Taking Fish Photos when Alone in the Boat

By Ron Silverman

So, you caught the big one and want a photo to add to your memories and to show others. But, you are alone in the boat and want to release the fish to fight another day. What to do?

Most of us end up putting the fish on the deck, sometimes on a fish ruler or with pliers in the pic for perspective, and then snapping the photo. This 21” trout and 27” redfish don’t really look that good in photos lying on the deck. And, what’s missing in these photos is the angler who caught the fish!

I’m no expert when it comes to taking photos, but I can think of three ways for an angler fishing alone to get a good photo of himself with his catch and release the fish. Of course, you always have the option of bringing the fish home and having someone else take the photo after the fish has expired. But, dead fish photographed in your driveway rarely look as good as a fresh caught fish photographed on the water and then released.

Option #1: Self Timer

Use your own camera to take the photo of you and the fish, using the self-timer on the camera. Put the camera on a mini – tripod ($6).  Stand the camera where you can focus on some fixed object in the boat, such as the center console. Estimate the height that the fish and your face will be at when framing the photo and zoom in. The flexible legs of the tripod make framing the picture a snap. Then, lock in the focus on that fixed object by depressing the shutter release half way.  Next,   push the shutter release all the way down, grab the fish and stand by or in front of the fixed object that you focused on and wait until the camera takes the photo. Self timers can often be set to take three successive photos, just in case the fish does the wiggle thing. Finally, release the fish. You need to have everything ready to do this as you don’t want to keep that fish out of water too long. Practice this a few times without a fish first and you will get some great photos when that big one comes along.

Option #2: Use your release well

Put the fish in your release well, bait well, or even a cooler with a battery operated bubbler, and keep it alive until you get back to the dock. Get someone at the dock to take your pic with the fish and release it. I did this with this large Sheepshead. It was the biggest one that I had caught, I was fishing alone. I wanted a pic, and did not want to kill the fish. So, I put it in my bait well, took it back to the dock, Paula took the pic, and I released the fish at the dock.

This large trout was caught on the Wando, put in a cooler with a bubbler, weighed in for the Trident Tournament, taken back to the Wando alive, and released.

Option #3: Only For Real Trophies – Get Another Boat to take the Pic

This won’t work if you are staked out over a school of reds and is only appropriate for a real trophy fish.

• Photo on left: I caught this estimated 34+ lb jack crevalle and wanted to release it. Another boat passing by, captained by Capt. Billy Glen, paused and watched the last 10 minutes of the fight, until I boated the fish. Billy offered to take photos of the fish with my camera before I released it.
• Photo on right: Jack caught in 2009.  Several people have asked, “Isn’t that Ralston Creek in the background. Did you catch the fish there?” After I caught the fish near the tip of Daniel Island, I was taking the fish back to the dock on Ralston so that it could be weighed in for the Trident.   Still, I did not want a photo of a grayed out fish hanging from a scale. So, on my way into Ralston Creek, I waved to a boat on its way out and asked if they would take a pic of me and the fish with my camera, while the fish was still fresh. The photo won third place in the Trident Photo Contest. A dead fish hanging on a scale surely would not have been considered.

So, these are just three ways that I think an angler fishing alone can get a good photo of himself with his catch.

Got some more ideas on how to get good fish photos when fishing by yourself? Please email them to me, Ron Silverman, Editor, at retrdnhpy1@aol.com.