YES great fishing so i saw 7 boats today wow maybe 20 boats total for a nice day on a weekend in June ...very very sad as fishing is pretty good too, my clients left with some nice coho, let go one about low mid 20s beside boat untouched as I dont need to do a hero shot and hold fish up. after working in hatchery seeing some severe scale loss and hand prints on fish unless i am going to kill a fish there really is no need to "hold up" and fish take a picture so you can say on these forums and social media "LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME" I got a fish. Give the fish the respect it deserves....
Good luck Wolf
Hi Roy,
Your opinion is well said so I gave your comment a like. And OF COURSE, if people tend to a fish in the manner you described, it’s horrible and they shouldn’t fish.
Now my rebuttal...
There are no regs saying you cannot hold up a fish for a picture. If done properly, you can show off a fish with minimal chance of doing harm to it.
To do so, you much be organized well in advance and have a partner present who knows exactly what to do and when to do it.
Start off by having your partner get the pliers and the phone turned to camera mode and within reaching distance. When the fish is tired at the boat, hand off the rod to your partner.
It is important that you have very wet hands and with your weak hand on the leader, firmly grab the fish by the narrowest part where the body meets the tail. At this Point, the partner on the rod can give a few pulls of slack, and get the pliers ready. (camera is still right there)
Now with your other other wet hand, you can cradle the fish by the belly and lift straight up. DO NOT lift the fish out with one hand by the tail. DO NOT rub the fish against your body or drop the fish on the deck or you’re a tool.
Now your partner pulls the barbless hook out, snaps a few rapid fire shots and then you place the fish back on the water still with the hand under the belly. The fish should be out of the water for the least amount of time, preferably 10-15 seconds.
To release, the boat should be in neutral. In the water, nor with one hand, gently and slowly rock the fish in a front to back motion which helps get water into the gills.
After anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes, you will feel the fish getting stronger and you can give a little push and they swim off.
If you don’t like the idea of holding a fish in a pic, there’s just as many who don’t think you should be it there hooking them when you can’t keep them anyways.
Back to reports.