Personally, I love helping a nearby angler get a picture with their catch. A recent experience left me wondering if some folks might find it intrusive to ask them to stop fishing and come take a shot of a quality fish. It honestly hadn't occurred to me as I am happy to take a minute to help out.
How do you guys feel about an angler nearby asking you to take a photo of them?
I personally think theres a bigger and much more important question , Why remove the fish from the water to take a picture , the fish is already spent and has elevated levels of , I cant remember the chemical it . any ways someone needs to show you how to take a great picture without potentally killing a fish ,. buy holding it out of the water where it cant breathe when it compleatly spent and exhausted ,there is data thast says for every second you hold a fish up out of the water after being caught it chances of survival drop some percentages , I get it wanting to get a good pic but I found a great technique get the hook out but leave the fish in the water / net then get alhold of the tail with one hand and pull the fish back out of the net while lowering the net not draging the fish over the edge just practice then find the sweet spot you will see the fish is still able to cycle water through its gills a little bit. Also notice while your doing this sometimes you have stired up silt so carefully find some clean/clear water and then have your friend take that picture; The water also brings its own special beauty a blend of shapes and reflections that can really ad to a great picture and most imporntly help reduce fish mortality if . Remember it was just fought to the point you where able to drag it out of the water so it is a very tired fish and needs to cycle the oxygen over its gills to remove the Latic Acid out of its tissue , and Latic Acid is the offender that kills the fish ... Theres probably a more accurate metabolic explanation that could be given by a biologist something about cellular respiration or something , Remember bigger fish take a lot longer to land and this longer fight time exacerbates this phenomenon ,
I am not trying to paint myself out to be this perfect fisherman far from it but i have gianed huge amount of knowledge on many things and this is one thats really important because it dealing with an already at risk fish , IE its out of its element and extremely tired and needs us to think about how we handle this precious and beautiful animal
Its up to us to do the right thing . Please feel free to contact me for a hands demo < I love tis place and only want to help keep it as a place for all of us to enjoy
I have included a picture of me doing it wrong and one properly done , Most of us have room for improvement
I think if someone is "too busy" while fishing to enjoy in your catch, and help out with a quick photo, they are just jerks. You should enjoy it if someone else catches a nice fish. That said, you do want to be careful with stressing the fish, so the pic should be quick and keep 'em wet, like Richard said.
Richard, I fish for UCD on a couple different studies and am aware of how to carefully treat fish and when it is appropriate to take a picture. Factors such as fight time and water temp are big. If a fish is rolling or exhausted it's a quick release but I use a large net and let them revive before snapping pics assuming they are doing ok. I remove them for maybe 3 seconds at a time then back in the water and only take a couple shots. I appreciate your concern for the fish but am confident in my fish handling. I also use spinning gear so I get the fish to hand a lot more quickly than fly guys.
I try not to remove fish whenever possible now. Usually only to remove a stubborn hook worst case scenario.
Unless its your fishing buddy/partner, I would assume another fisherman would be a good distance away giving each of you fishing space. So to ask someone to come to your fish to take a picture seems like a reach. Youre asking that person so stop fishing(what they are there to do), wade or walk to you, and get a picture of the fish. seems like best case scenario youre playing with the fish too long. HOWEVER, if its a fishing buddy and they are right there? sure ask for a picture.
I try not to remove fish whenever possible now. Usually only to remove a stubborn hook worst case scenario.
Unless its your fishing buddy/partner, I would assume another fisherman would be a good distance away giving each of you fishing space. So to ask someone to come to your fish to take a picture seems like a reach. Youre asking that person so stop fishing(what they are there to do), wade or walk to you, and get a picture of the fish. seems like best case scenario youre playing with the fish too long. HOWEVER, if its a fishing buddy and they are right there? sure ask for a picture.
I always invite guys to fish near me. I've been rather pleasantly surprised with the etiquette as of late on putah. Specifically in the AM. I usually turn over the spot if someone is nice enough to take a pic. Good reason to exchange info too!
I think it's great as long as they aren't fishing in your hole. As far as taking a fish out of the water for a picture, I think it's okay as long as the fish is only maybe halfway out of the water so he can still get water in the gills. Or if you have to pull them all the way out do it very quickly, like under 3 seconds quick.
