Photographing Your Catch

When releasing fish, a photo will be the only record of your catch. Follow these procedures to improve your photographs and help ensure survival of your catch.

Photographing your catch should be preplanned and accomplished quickly to prevent the injury or death of the fish. Keep your fish wet and calm until you are ready for the photograph. Crouch down near the water surface to avoid lifting the fish far from the water. Have the photographer pre-position and focus the camera before lifting your fish. When all is ready, hold your fish firmly by the tail while placing the other hand under its belly (avoid touching the gill area). Wait for the fish to become accustomed to your touch. When the fish has calmed, lift it briefly out (or better yet partly out) of the water and quickly capture the image. If multiple images are planned, calm the fish in the water before lifting it again.

Catch and Release

Fly fishing is one of the few sports where you can actually catch a wild creature, admire its incredible beauty up close and then release it unharmed.

Don't waste time. Quickly play and release fish. A fish played to long may be to exhausted to recover.

Avoid touching a fish you are going to release. If you must handle a fish that you plan to release, wet your hands first to reduce damage to its protective slime. Removing its body slime makes it vulnerable to disease. Avoid touching the gills—Gills are a particularly sensitive and fragile organ that can be easily damaged. Any fish bleeding from the gills has a poor chance of survival and should probably be retained.

Avoid squeezing—Squeezing can easily cause damage to internal organs and muscle tissue.This can best be avoided by not removing the fish from the net until you are ready to let it go.

If your fish is small, slide your hand down the leader, grasp the barbless hook, and twist it free. If your fly is deep in the fish's mouth, you may try using a pair of pliers or forceps to retrieve it, but its chance of survival is much better if the leader is cut and the hook is left in place.

To subdue larger fish, use a net made of soft material or rubber that will not hurt the fish, and keep it in the water if you can.

Revive exhausted fish. Hold it upright in the water (heading upstream in streams) and move it back and forth to force water through its gills. When the fish revives and begins to swim normally, let it go to survive and challenge another angler.