Horrible handling for catch and release fishing. you should really be supporting the fish by the belly. would you like to be held like that? Your pics earn you 0 cool points and I hope you feel ashamed.

Hey PETA, go back to your cave, or move to Switzerland where they can't use worms because it's cruel to the worm. And no, I don't feel ashamed. I did not touch the fish with my hands, which protected it from me removing the protective coating on its skin. We used surgical pliers to remove the hook cleanly. So F off.

Thanks for posting. Those are beautiful fish.
I now live in Seattle and can't wait to get back on Amber.
Great reply btw, which earned you 12.5 cool points.

You are right. Im the apologoy here. But for real, listen. Next time, take a net and then you can keep them in the water instead of lifting them like a bass. In addition, it is helpful to bank anglers becuz you are less likely to lose the fish netting it then you would trying to caputure it without a net. its one thing to release, its another to respect. you may safely touch fish with your hands, the key element is to submerge your hand into the lake directly before handling and then lift the fish quickly before snapping the photograph. If the fish is large, support the tail in one hand and the belly the other, on a smaller species the tail support will not be needed, and you can simply cradle the belly with a soft grip.

I hope you consider this next time, as it does not increase the difficulty level of the task, and is ideal for the fish. if you are espcially worried about the fishs protective slime coat i urge you to invest is a rubber net and only photograph fish while netted, in the water. but that isnt needed.

hopefully this respectful and informitive post will now earn me back some cool points.

I'm not trying to but in but nice catch! Anyways theres nothing wrong with holding the fish like that if they plan on keeping it but you are right too though wurmslinger I wouldn't hold a fish most of the time. Great catch and nice story!

The unsolicited advice still abounds!

Guys, I appreciate your love of our sport, but lets get real. We have a piece of metal with a razor sharp hook on it. We "lure" the fish to come to our bait and they bite it with such furry that the hook rips up into its gum and sometimes pokes out near its eye socket. The fish fights for its life as it pulls against the force of the line as the hook is through it's mouth/gum/eye. It jumps out of the water with the hook in is mouth and splashes back down. It dives to the bottom of the lake, then races up and jumps out of the water again. Meanwhile, my ultra light rod is bent in half from the pressure. I have my drag set perfectly so the fish races away peeling line away. Finally, after a 5 minute fight, he's too exhausted to contunue. I think the least of his pain is holding him up to snap a picture.

It should not take you 5 minutes to land a 2lb fish...

just sayin. you sound like you dont have the fishes interest in mind. maybe you should just stick to catch and keep, seeing as you dont seem to understand the whole catch and release deal. and on top of that, if it did take you 5 min to land its even more reason to handle the fish properly.

you wanna be real? reread my first post. it my be abbrasive but im not some peta loving hippy. i do though, have the fishes interest in mind. this is a public resource that should be respected, not your private play pond.