Seriously? How would this rule be enforced...? By internet shaming or
Encouraging the practise is about all you could hope for ..
Rodney, you wanna weigh in on this? Every Day?
I see plenty of videos and pics on here that show careful c&r with a quick 'hold up out of water' for the camera. You guys breakin' the rules.... ?
https://outdooraddictions.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/monsters-and-misfortune/
In Washington, they are able to ticket you if you post a photo of a wild steelhead out of the water. It would be enforced simply through people not being able to contain their excitement and posting their lift shots online. That, and of course, public shaming as well would curb it.
Kitty and I take great care with the fish we catch. As we fish more and more, and blog more, we've been trying to further refine our photos and fish handling to set an example. I'm a firm believer that a quick lift of less than 10 seconds (our average "lift time" is between 3 and 6 seconds based on video footage) is not going to cause any measurable harm to a fish. That being said, keeping them in the water as much as possible is always best. If you follow my blog, you'll see that the more recent pictures are mostly of fish partially, or fully, in the water. The only time a lift shot is done now is to capture the scenery in the backdrop.
While it would make photos slightly more challenging, especially if you want background, a rule change wouldn't bother me. I don't believe it is needed personally, but I do think avid has a point. I hate seeing boat shots. I would fully support a rule stating that you are not able to lift a wild fish over/into a boat. There is no way a boat shot takes less than 10 seconds start to finish - and if you drop it, the fish is now flopping around on a hard metal surface (or a grippy/carpet surface that many guys have in their boats now which would even be worse). Furthermore, if the rule change would stop people from dragging them up beaches shake and bake style, or from posting high and dry shots (no water dripping) - where they've obviously been out of the water for far too long - then I am/would be willing to sacrifice some "convenience" for the greater good (in the form of a rule change).