LEE FISHER'S SAFETY GUIDE TO WEIGHING AND PHOTOGRAPHING FISH

This is the method I use for weighing and photographing all my fish and is very simple and guarantee’s perfect results every time with the minimum of fuss and stress to the fish. You need a camera with a power winder, which most camera’s will have, a tripod and a bulb air release. If you have a digital camera, you will need a hand held remote to activate the shutter. Also you will need a long adjustable bankstick.

Once you have landed your fish it may be exhausted from the fight so I like to make sure the fish is sitting upright in the net and not rolling over to one side. If I’m happy the fish is stable I then check the rig as sometimes when the pressure is off, the barbless hook will fall out in the net. This is perfect as it means you dont have to unhook it. Normally the hook will be visible just inside the mouth and with the fish still being tired, its a good time to unhook it in the net as the fish rarely struggle and the hook just pops out easily. If the fish struggles and you cant easily unhook it you will have to get the fish out on the unhooking mat. This should be of the largest size you can get and be well wetted with cool lake water. With your weigh sling well soaked in water, hang on your scales and adjust so the needle reads zero. Now you can lift the fish out the water. The best way I find is to detach the arms of the net and roll a few times making sure you are not pulling the mainline tight to the fishes mouth or that the line is wrapped around the fish. Lift and hold the fish on the surface with one hand and run your other hand under the bottom of the net to make sure all the fins are tucked up nicely and not sticking out, this will avoid broken and split fins. Only when you are happy should you lift the fish out and onto the mat. Unhook the fish and get it into the weigh sling as quickly as possible. This is a good time to give the fish a once over for any damage or wounds that can be treated with an anti septic such as Klinik. If there is excessive damage then try and contact one of the bailiff’s. If at any point the fish struggles, be firm but gentle in restraining it, if it is in the sling, gently lift off the mat until its stops struggling. Then lift up onto the scales, the tripod stands are perfect for this, especially for larger specimen’s. Once weighed, if no photo’s are required, then it can be returned to the water immediately. Carry the fish to the water in the sling and release from the sling but support the fish in your hands, when the fish has righted itself and got its bearings only then should you let the fish swim from your hands. The fish should have been out of the water for no more than 30 seconds. If a photo is required then the fish should be gently placed back in the net, checking all the fins again, and back in the water, a second net is really handy for this. Once the fish is settled and secure you can then set up your camera. The most important part of taking the picture is the composition. By this I mean finding a suitable spot to take the picture. I usually favour a background of tree’s or bushes to give a nice backdrop to the picture which makes you and the fish stand out. There’s nothing worse than getting your photo’s developed and finding a telegraph pole sticking out of your head or all manner of things in the background like the clutter of all your tackle and bivvy and even worse, other people. I try to get the light (sun) coming directly into your face and not from behind you or from the sides. Avoid having the lake in the background as you will get a nice shot of the water but the foreground, ie you and the fish will be dark and shadowy. Try to avoid gaps in overhead tree’s, especially in strong sunlight as you will get shadows across your once in a lifetime fish. I also like to wear green camo or dark drab clothing as I think this also makes the main subject, the fish, stand out more.

Once you have found a good spot, lay down the wet unhooking mat and put your bankstick in the ground in the far centre of the mat. Extend it to the level the top of your head will be at. Then position the camera and tripod in front of the mat, aiming at the bankstick. The distance away from the bankstick will depend on the lens on your camera, but roughly 5 - 7 feet is a good starting point. What you want to see though the viewfinder is the bankstick perfectly in the centre, with the top of the stick at the top of the frame and the bottom at the bottom. You should also just be able to see the left and right of your unhooking mat as this will ensure you will not crop the head and tail of the fish, assuming you have not got a fish longer than your unhooking mat, see FIG 1. I like to then move the camera and tripod about 1 foot closer to the mat so I can get right in close to the fish and get nice sharp detail, see dotted line. Now focus on the bankstick, attach the air release, which is a long piece of tubing and connects to the camera at one end and has a rubber bulb at the other. Lay the bulb on the ground where your knee will be and remove the bankstick and you are all ready to go. If you are using a digital camera, you can hold the remote, or better still, make a small knee pad so you can activate the remote with your knee. This is a couple of pieces of wood, hinged at one end with a rubber button glued to the inside top. The remote is placed on the inside bottom so when you press your knee on the top, its activates the camera. Its also a good idea to have a bucket of cold clean water nearby to keep the mat and fish wet. Go and get the fish, which should be laying quietly in your net in the water. Gently lay the fish on the mat, pose in a suitable manner, with your knee resting gently on the bulb air release. When the fish is still, gently press your knee on the bulb, job done, perfect results every time. You should then return the fish to the lake. Again this procedure should result in the fish being out of the water for about a minute or so. The beauty of it is there is no rushing back and forth to the camera to wind on or set the self timer and you only take the pic when all is ready, unlike 10 second delay timer when the fish will always struggle at the wrong moment.

At night time I do exactly the same as above, aided with a torch to set it all up, and use a flash gun of course. I will add that I use a standard 35mm SLR camera which is quite old now and use Kodak print film and cant fault the results. I do have a digital camera which is ok for conveinient holiday snaps but never use it for my fishing as the quality is just not good enough. When I get my photo’s developed I always get a photo CD done which I can then email to my friends out there, but the quality of these files is not as good when compared to the contone prints I get, but its ok for conveinience. I would need to spend a lot of money to get the quality I want from a digital camera, but the quality is getting better and the prices are coming down so maybe. Hope all this helps and please remember to look after the fish.

Lee Fisher