Suggestions for photographing C&R for AOTY

Hi everyone.  Dumb question.  I'm mostly Catch and Release but I'm participating in this years AOTY for shits and giggles.  Anyone have suggestions how to photograph large fish to meet the AOTY rules but still allowing you to safely release?  Seems incredibly difficult in a kayak. 

It is difficult!
The only suggestions I can make are to wet your hands before handling a fish, wet the trough, and be quick about it. In the past I have dipped the trough into the water and slid larger fish onto it and tipped onto my lap for the pic. I find that fish will give you a small window of time after the fight when they are somewhat sedate, especially if you are calm about it. They wake up though, which I fear is when they start thrashing around for round two, and end up getting mishandled.

It is difficult!
The only suggestions I can make are to wet your hands before handling a fish, wet the trough, and be quick about it. In the past I have dipped the trough into the water and slid larger fish onto it and tipped onto my lap for the pic. I find that fish will give you a small window of time after the fight when they are somewhat sedate, especially if you are calm about it. They wake up though, which I fear is when they start thrashing around for round two, and end up getting mishandled.

I like the idea of slipping them on in the water.  I'll give that try.  Of course, another big dilemma with photographing C&R fish is having the mouth closed for the photo.  Guess, I"ll just have to eat the penalty.  Its not like I'm a contender anyway.. its just for fun.

I'm in the NWKA AOTY competition and for some reason, cutthroat trout are my White Whale this year.  Caught a big one last Wednesday - at last - but as I was trying to pose the fish and take it's picture, it did a backwards layout with kick over, and abandoned ship.

I'm trying to come up with a way to hold a fish in position while I use my other two hands to take it's picture.

When I've had trouble with a fish that won't stay still or even more often, the mouth won't stay closed I put em on my fish grips and set them back in the water for a bit. Usually that works for me.

If that doesn't work poke em in the eyes three stooges style and get the photo while they are dazed.

For fish under 30 inches, I like to have my net in the water right next to the trough.  If the fish wants to go floppy, I can quickly move him into the net (in the water) to wait for him to calm down.  When he's calm, he's back onto the trough for a quick picture, or several pictures if I have the opportunity.

If the fish is over 30 inches, I much prefer to head to shore and measure them there.  If possible, I keep the trough in a couple inches of water so even when the fish is on the trough, there is still some water circulation through the gills.  Otherwise, it's a quick pic on the trough, then into the net and in the water to allow the fish to recuperate.

As for large saltwater fish: heading to shore with a big, live lingcod or halibut is likely not an option.  Ideally, you'll have a buddy nearby to help you with a measurement.  Maybe others can chime in on that, but it seems for the most part people want to keep large saltwater fish anyway and the measurements are done with dead fish back on the beach.

Having somebody help take the picture works best. I've had a few good fish escape the trough without a picture and it's always a heartbreaker.

If I'm doing it solo I make sure everything is ready before taking the fish out of the net. Camera ready, trough positioned, etc. Then I don't like to do the picture in my lap, I'll either straddle my kayak and take the picture or go to shore.

To get the mouth closed ive had luck positioning the head of the fish at a downward angle, which puts some pressure on the fish mouth and forcing it to close.

And if you don't already have one make sure you get a trough extender for when you catch that fish that's over 31"

As for the mouth-closed deal: a small rock can be an invaluable asset!  Especially for salmonids.

Hi everyone.  Dumb question.  I'm mostly Catch and Release but I'm participating in this years AOTY for shits and giggles.  Anyone have suggestions how to photograph large fish to meet the AOTY rules but still allowing you to safely release?  Seems incredibly difficult in a kayak.

It's not a dumb question at all. It is sometimes challenging to get a good photo of a big fish from a kayak when C&Ring. I would wager that most AOTY competitors have had fish rejected over the years (I know I have).

Here are some of my tips:

1. Fish with a friend. Your friend can help you when you are trying to photo that big fish. The task becomes somewhat easier with an extra pair of hands.

2. Have a wide angle camera with you. I sometimes use a GoPro to take AOTY photos because on the wide angle setting it's hard NOT to get the whole fish in the photo.

3. Once you get your fish on the measuring board in the position that you want, hold the fish against the board with one hand and photograph with the other.

Clayman and threemoney's tips are also gold.

Catch and Release?

What's that?

To fatten them up?

 



 

Sincerely,

Jim

Lmao eating eyeballs!

Some great ideas.  Seems like quite the challenge.  I have a GoPro mounted so maybe I'll just hold the trough and fish to the camera and try to grab a screen capture.  That might be the easiest.  Regardless, it's gonna a challenge.  I already tossed a decent Cabezon because water was rough and couldn't mess with taking a picture.

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Cabezon are super easy to photo, they give up on the surface 

Legs straddling the kayak and slightly head down....

Right on!  Thanks John.  I'm hitting the Alameda Rock Wall on Monday.  Come join me! 

  I have a GoPro mounted so maybe I'll just hold the trough and fish to the camera and try to grab a screen capture.

This!