Why do you have to take the fish out of the water for a photo? I don't understand that mentality. Your in water photos are enough proof. Enjoy what you have for the way they are going at the second growth on Vancouver Island there will be more impact on those rivers that you fish.
You mean the quick 5 second lifts (how long do you actually think water runs off a fish like that for?). The fish are always my primary concern, and we never lift for more than 5-10 seconds (I know this because I've timed it on the go pro) before putting them in the water for a good half a minute before trying another lift (if the first photo didn't turn out). The photo's aren't for "proof," they are memories - and I enjoy the photography aspect as much as the actual fishing. Lifts allow you to get the backdrop, actual size of fish, etc.
There are so many other important things you could potentially bash or put effort into (maybe like poaching, logging, illegally using bait and gut hooking fish, etc), rather than go after something so trivial as a quick fish lift. I am well versed in fish handling, and many of the studies surrounding it. I have done my part to make sure a fish is never out of the water more than 10 seconds. Most studies have pointed to 30 seconds as being the tipping point for any damage to a fish as far as mortality or behavioural changes go, and I don't come anywhere close to pushing it that far. If you have some other insider knowledge that can show me that a quick 5-10 second lift will cause significant, or any, damage to a fish, please share it and I will correct my methods to your liking.
Until then, keep on fishing and taking pics how you prefer them - because you're right; the way they are logging right to the rivers right now, I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't enough left to fish for in the next 10 years.
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Topic: 2014/2015 summer/winter steelhead season recap! (Read 13673 times)