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[frenchy]

When I catch a big fish, I often (always) feel like I would need at least 3 hands to hold the rod, the fish and remove the hook, and do not even speak about taking a picture... Do you have any trick to do it easily without snapping the leader, harming the fish, breaking the rod ? Is it possible to take pictures while fishing alone?

[Ribwart]

If fishing alone frenchy I very rarely try to take pictures...the only time I will even think of it is if I have the fish in the water and under control....here's how I give myself the chance to do so....

when fishing make sure you wear good fishing gloves and get them wet while you are fishing....then when bringing a fish to shore, there will be very brief moments when the fish will stay stiill for just a second...at the moment it does this you need to quickly reach down and grab it by the tail....this is all about timing...it literally happens in 2-3 seconds...as fast as you can you must put the rod down and remove the hook from it's mouth...(be ready to reach back and grab the rod again real quick though.. )
Only when the hook is out and the rod is down can you decide if you can take a picture. You base this decision on whether or not the fish is fully revived, and flopping around or not...if it still needs reviving, then you can try to take your camera out for a quick shot while your other hand hold the fish in the water...but here you must place a priority on the condition of the fish...if it looks like it is in trouble in someway, then ignore the camera and get it into some flowing water to allow it to get some oxygenated water flowing over it's gills...if it just looks tired and is breathing well, then you can get the camera out, move the fish into some current quickly turnit on its side, click, and then return to the task of releasing the fish responsibly.

First and foremost don't release the fish until it swims off energetically of its own volition...having said that I rarely take pictures of fish when I'm on my own, but if they come to the shoreline quickly and without a long drawn out fight, then sometimes I will take a quick shot, as long as they cooperate...oh, it definitely helps to have a waterproof camera in these instances....for obvious reasons...

does that make sense? How do the other people on this site attempt to do this? Any other methods?
thx,
rib

[THE_ROE_SLINGER]

good tips

[frenchy]

thanks, What are these fishing gloves, I believed that it is better to avoid gloves because they remove the mucus of the fish.

Well, as I am always fishing alone here, I will not have a lot of pictures to make my fishing buddy jaleous. Or I will have to kill a fish or two...

[Ribwart]

Yes removing the mucus is of some concern, this is why you wet the gloves before you tail the fish, it limits that impact somewhat...I'm not really sure which gloves are best....can anybody else answer that question?

sometimes I don't have gloves handy and I tail a fish just fine...so if you would rather not use gloves I'm sure you could pull it off without them...

[Fish Assassin]

I don't bother with gloves. I just wade out and unhook the fish with my needle nose pliers. If I want a picture I'll take a quick snapshot while the fish is in the water.

[Big Steel]

I don't bother with gloves. I just wade out and unhook the fish with my needle nose pliers. If I want a picture I'll take a quick snapshot while the fish is in the water.

I do not use gloves as well.  I always just get out there and tail them with a bare wet hand, never really ahd any problems with this.  But I have in the past attempted to take pics while by myself, and never really had much success doing so.  Now I don't even bother trying unless I am going to keep the fish.  There are a couple pics I would have loved to have, but it wasn't worth harming the fish, which is what may have happened if I had attempted it.

[chris gadsden]

It is best not to use gloves at all if a fish is going to be released as has been mentioned above.  I have been told using gloves in most cases is giving the fish a premature death sentence. This comes from people that deal with fish all the time.

[Ribwart]

Thanks for the info Chris... I'll be going gloveless from now on ...
rib

[Pat AV]

Hey I agree with the "no gloves" and "no soslo pics" comments. No matter how cold it is I will always pull off my fingerless gloves when landing a fish. with some practise you will have no trouble tailing without gloves and keeping your gloves dry will keep you happier on those cold days!

As for what type of gloves to wear I just use cheap fingerless wool gloves that you can buy at any tackle shop.

When I have a partner with me and want to take a picture I play the fish till it is ready to land. I then hand the rod to my partner and tail the fish, and take the hook out while the fish is still in the water. This gives the partner time to put down your rod and get the camera ready. Once the camera man is in place with a ready camera I lift up the fish and put on my big fish smile. I find the fish are only out of the water for a couple of seconds when I do things this way and I always get good picks.

Hope that helps!

 

[frenchy]

thanks a lot, looks like I will have to work my tail grabbing...
I will let you know how