Keep ’em wet

What angler doesn’t love a memento of the fish of a lifetime or maybe just the fish of the day? But if you plan to release that fish, you should consider its lifetime, not just yours.

Many people have a tough time getting a nice photo of a fish when they’re alone. Here’s the good news for you and the fish: When you’re alone, keeping the fish in the water is the best way to take its picture. And leaving the fish in the water is easiest when you use a net with a rubber basket and a large opening. My net is twenty inches in its long direction, providing plenty of room for a fish to be comfortable while keeping me from dismantling my credibility by calling every seventeen-, eighteen-, and nineteen-inch fish I catch a twenty-incher. Stream cred matters, you know.

After you’ve safely corralled your fish, it’s best to put the net’s handle between your legs and greet the fish the way Lancelot might greet Arthur. So move into shallow water, find a safe place for your rod, and kneel on one or two of your knees. You can also do this in waist-deep water without kneeling, but you might struggle to keep your rod secure.

I used to use a Canon waterproof camera, but now I use my waterproof iPhone’s excellent camera. With the fish still underwater, I reach below it with my left hand, then slowly and gently lift it up until its back and eyes are above the surface. Then I take its picture with my camera at about one or two o’clock from the fish’s perspective. Your camera or phone might work differently, but I press one of the volume buttons for my phone to snap the photo.

Because I can’t see the phone’s screen, I have to aim its lens blindly. The only way I know to do that well is to practice, practice, and then practice some more. Practicing on the river with a fish isn’t practical, so I recommend using something like an empty wine bottle when you practice, which makes practicing more fun because you first need to empty the bottle.

Finally, the fish’s eye is the most important thing in your photo. So, when you practice, pick a spot on the bottle that you want to capture in sharp focus. When you’re on the water, you can lower the fish back into the net, check your shot, and take another if necessary. Because you can delete bad photos, be sure to take several for each session. This will become second nature with a little practice, and you’ll easily capture great memories. As a final word of caution, remember that waterproof is not the same as sink-proof, so use some sort of tether to keep your camera or phone attached to your body.