Picture posting guidelines!

[Brian]

Here at Steelhead Notebook we care a great deal about our wonderful wild steelhead. Please handle these fish with extreme care while taking photographs, and keep them in the water at all times(...it's the law in Washington State). Always keep the welfare of the fish in mind, even if it means a missed photo opportunity, and return it to the river as quickly as possible. Any photos of wild steelhead that are held completely out of the water may be removed from this forum without notice. Think carefully before posting pictures of dead steelhead, whether hatchery or wild(where legal to retain them). Pictures of dead steelhead just don't hold the same appeal as a quality photo of a freshly caught fish that is to be released. Thank you in advance for your cooperation......Brian

[Andrew]

Excellent post, Brian. It's funny, I've actually been meaning to PM you to suggest you put up just such a statement. I hate to see mishandled fish, and it seems there have been a few lately. It's one thing to carefully lift a fish above the water line for 2 seconds, but quite another suspend a fish over the bank or drag it up onto a gravel bar. Catch and release is no good if you're releasing injured fish. I think we all have respect for wild fish, but once the "must get a pic" mentality becomes engrained our concern for the welfare of the fish starts to fall second to our concern for a picture. If pictures of mishandled fish aren't tolerated on bulletin boards, though, there will be no more fuel for the "must get a pic" mentality. Basically, you beat me to the punch.

Just goes to show you... hopelessly ill, steelhead-infested minds think alike. 

Andrew

[bugnuts]

Almost as if on cue, today I hooked a bright, hot native buck in one of my favorite spots...as I fumbled to get the digital cam ready while landing this awesome fish, he tried to go ballistic right in on the gravel/rocks.  I quickly ditched the camera and guided the fish back into the deeper water where he couldn't hurt himself.  You know what happened next...he came unbuttoned with no pic.  Perfectly OK with me...although I love my pictures, I never go for the the shot at the expense of the welfare of the steelhead.  Same theory here on the Notebook. 

[The Codfather]

I hate to see mishandled fish
Andrew

I think your statement is the way the majority of people here see it Andrew.

[Brian]

Just another reminder, if you post your pictures as an attachment to your post, it will be automatically deleted in 180 days to save server space. If you want your pictures to remain in your post longer than that I suggest you use one of the other options listed on our forum information board. Here is the link:

http://steelheadnotebook.net/forum/index.php/board,25.0.html

Feel free to contact me with any questions about this.

[Kid Sauk]

Right on, Brian, that is an excellent idea.  It's all about education and leading by example and you help do a great job of that.  Keep up the good work 

[green butt]

On a live salmonoid this would cover Rainbows, Steelhead, and all species of Salmon; the eyes will appear to be looking downwards they only appear to look straight ahead if the fish is dead or fatally stressed. It is surprising how many photos are of dead fish or ones on the way. 

[BigJim]

On a live salmonoid this would cover Rainbows, Steelhead, and all species of Salmon; the eyes will appear to be looking downwards they only appear to look straight ahead if the fish is dead or fatally stressed. It is surprising how many photos are of dead fish or ones on the way. 

This is some information that I never knew Green Butt, I was studying my pictures and you could tell when a fish had been bonked or released. It in fact seems to work on bass also, but I do not have many bass pictures. Thanks for this information.

[Fllyfishy]

It may not necessarially be

On a live salmonoid this would cover Rainbows, Steelhead, and all species of Salmon; the eyes will appear to be looking downwards they only appear to look straight ahead if the fish is dead or fatally stressed. It is surprising how many photos are of dead fish or ones on the way. 

They tend to look at the water, I read a great thread on PP or IFISH that talked about this.  I found the thread that the discuss this.  Here they are

Eyefish on fish eyes

PP thread on fish eyes 
 

[Fllyfishy]

moving to middle