Capturing the "Hero Shot" in Fly Fishing: Doing More Harm Than Good?

Take a scroll through social media these days and you'll find lots of great fish photography within the fly fishing community. Captivating images showing underwater photos of fish, the increasingly popular half in half out of water shot, and close up macro shots certainly add another dimension to the sport. You will also find lots of sub-par photography, some you might even cringe at the sight of. Shots where anglers look like there strangling the fish as to keep it from getting away. Or another I'll call the gill shot, where anglers are holding the fish vertically with there fingers through the fish's gills. While looking at these images, either good or poor, have you ever asked yourself- I wonder how much time and effort went into getting that shot?

It is just about impossible to judge as to whether someone treated a fish poorly or not by looking at an image they post. But this question has been flooding my mind lately, namely due to the explosion of social media, and how many fish pictures abound in the fly fishing community.  Do we put fish in harm when we set out to get a great fish picture? Are we seeking the "hero shot" to see how many likes and/or comments we can get to further our followers? All the while disregarding the care of the fish?

I remember when the recent Montana Wild fiasco hit social media, and how many angry people it brought about. Anglers were asking themselves, how could such an organization as themselves, who promote ethical hunting and fishing, act in a manner to harm fish? All for the sake of a good fishing video? Future information on the debate eventually came out, leaving some to think they did nothing wrong, and never put fish in danger. However, some still believe that they did harm fish by keeping them on the line too long. Regardless of what happened, it raises the question as to how far we will go to get that "hero shot".

Social media has enabled anglers from across the world to share their images and stories. It is a wonderful thing to see an image of a permit caught on Christmas Island, or an angler barely able to hold onto a monstrous golden dorado in Bolivia. For anglers like me who mainly fish for trout and bass, it is a nice change of scenery, and enables a slice of experience that I may never have in this life. Like most things however, with social media, there are good and not so good things that come about. I am not writing this to judge as to whether anglers are respecting fish or not during pictures. The goal is to bring this debate to thought, in hope that anglers will practice good fish handling skills.

Don't get me wrong, I occasionally have kept fish for too long, seeking to capture a great shot. It takes practice to get both a quality image, while also keeping the fish unharmed. I'll admit I have work to do, and want to be able to take great pictures with minimal distress on a fish. I also keep fish every once in a while and enjoy eating some of them. There is nothing wrong with that in my opinion. However, if the intent is to catch and release, we as fly fisher's should strive to leave the fish in the condition we found them. After all, the majority of fly fisherman pride themselves on safe fish handling and catch and release.

Some of you might be asking yourselves- who really cares if anglers use safe fish handling? If you are, that is your opinion and I respect that. However, I would hope that you do care, if not for the sake of the fish, then for the future generations of fly fishermen and women.