"I wonder when they will use drones in a real manner for redd counts?"

Like C'man says, probably not feasible for creek surveys, but I started thinking a while back that they would be really good for mainstem surveys for Chinook and steelhead. I think helicopter time is now running about $1200 - $1400 an hour, so a drone equipped with a good real time video camera and polorizing filter could save a lot of money on spawning surveys. I always loved the bird's eye view of counting redds and even watching fish from the helicopter however.