Every year I see a ton of pics that have fish rolling around in the dirt. I find it a little disturbing and was wondering how everyone else feels.

 

#keepfishoutofthedirt

It does bother me too see fish in the dirt or on the ground in general. Whether it hurts the fish or not, I don't know. But to me we need to do everything we can to make sure fish are put back just as healthy as they came out. If people don't take care of the fish, there won't be any more fish. 

I would say in general if I am fishing to release yeah I try not to touch or mess with the fish no more than necessary. Unfortunately for the decent eating size ones I am like the bad dream  for them as they end up on my table. 

Yes they look stupid. A good fish deserves a good photo. If you're alone take a selfie or pose the fish next to your rod & reel. But remember to rinse the fish off first then take the photo. 

8 minutes ago, Dwight Hottle said:

Yes they look stupid. A good fish deserves a good photo. If you're alone take a selfie or pose the fish next to your rod & reel. But remember to rinse the fish off first then take the photo. 

In a case like that heck yes. If your gonna do a photo shoot by all means the fish wants to look good too. Well really he/she probably doesn't care but why take a pic of a fish you cant see its pretty colors. 

I agree. I dont want to have my fish rolling on the ground. If it happens, its not my intent and it will be dipped before the pic. Also dont like the pic of bleeding fish. Get em back in the water. I think that's usually the main things that get me going when I see it on the internet. I even dont mind if you put 10 lber when its clearly a fry.  But hey, the pic speaks for itself and if you put up a 2 pounder, with dirt all over em, bleeding and label it a 10....I just know not to ask you to fish with me.

Wet rock (slab, not gravel!) or wet grass should be fine. Anything else, not so much.

Josh

Here a dirty fish .

 

It does, but some novice people don't know to keep fish out of dirt

Definitely bothers me...A lot.

If you're bank fishing and you catch a big fish you have to handle it and get it off the hook. They don't always cooperate and you wouldn't want to break a rod supporting a huge fish when you don't have to. Just try to keep it to a minimum.

If you like to take pictures of your catch when fishing alone, invest a couple of bucks in an inexpensive, small tripod like a gorilla pod. Set it up on the ground, a rock, a tree stump, wrap the legs on a tree branch or a fence. Set the timer, and take your shot. No need to lay the fish on the ground.

9 hours ago, scaleface said:

Here a dirty fish .

 

that is a big bowfin....i want to catch one like that on my fly rod  

x No they're not disturbing, we all started as amateurs

Than pictures of fish in the sink must be horrifying

^^

4 minutes ago, slonezp said:

Than pictures of fish in the sink must be horrifying

Get the fillet knives out .

 I actually enjoy filleting fish .When I was a boy I would peddle my 20" , single speed bike to a slough off the Mississippi river about 8 miles away . I would catch bullheads . On the return trip I would put them in a gunny sack and dip it in the water . I had three stops on the way home to re-dip the  sack . They would still be alive when I dumped them on the grass for cleaning . 

22 minutes ago, scaleface said:

^^

Get the fillet knives out .

 I actually enjoy filleting fish .When I was a boy I would peddle my 20" , single speed bike to a slough off the Mississippi river about 8 miles away . I would catch bullheads . On the return trip I would put them in a gunny sack and dip it in the water . I had three stops on the way home to re-dip the  sack . They would still be alive when I dumped them on the grass for cleaning . 

That's an old pic. This one is from yesterday, no bass in this one. Nothing like cold water panfish.

Point I'm trying to make is a little bit of dirt isn't that bad. Watch the way some of these showboaters hoist their bass and swing them around for a photo op. I'm surprised I don't catch more fish with broken jaws. On the other end of the spectrum you have these fly fishermen who handle the 6" brook trout they catch like they are fragile eggs. What would be hilarious is to watch one of the fly fishermen do everything he could not to touch the fish during the unhooking process and then immediately after the release see it get eaten by another predator.LOL

OP, Nature is not a friendly place

 

 

2 minutes ago, slonezp said:

That's an old pic. This one is from yesterday, no bass in this one. Nothing like cold water panfish.

Point I'm trying to make is a little bit of dirt isn't that bad. Watch the way some of these showboaters hoist their bass and swing them around for a photo op. I'm surprised I don't catch more fish with broken jaws. On the other end of the spectrum you have these fly fishermen who handle the 6" brook trout they catch like they are fragile eggs. What would be hilarious is to watch one of the fly fishermen do everything he could not to touch the fish during the unhooking process and then immediately after the release see it get eaten by another predator.LOL

OP, Nature is not a friendly place

 

 

I see the yellow perch but is that a yellow bass in the mix ? Or just a white ?

anything that shows a lack of respect for the fish we so enjoy pursuing bothers me.

I remember when I was a kid,  my friends dad caught two burlap bags full of Mackeral.

they sat in the garage until they 'turned' then got thrown out.

such a shame.   why on earth would anyone take home a hundred fish when you know d**n well you will

never clean that many

Looks like a yellow in the picture but I don't recall it having yellow coloring when my dad caught it. It may have changed color in the livewell. Happens all the time with smallies and largies.

5 hours ago, slonezp said:

Than pictures of fish in the sink must be horrifying

Not at all when your eating them, I keep my fair share of eating fish. Just not bass, and that's only because I don't care for them too much. I have a buddy and his son that I take out and they'll keep a few bass every now and then. I just find it a little disturbing to see a nice five pound bass covered in dirt. You could at least rinse it off before showing it off.

Unfortunately, you gotta do what you gotta do when you're fishing from the bank; I always pin my bass against the edge of the shoreline if they're very big, and swing them onto the bank if they're small enough. I do so in a manner that they rarely get full surface contact with the ground, most of the time I'm swinging them right into my hand. But they do get dirty.

As mentioned above, a quick rinse before the pic does a world of good .

Sink picks or pictures of fish being kept don't bother me one bit. Populations need to be kept in check and they're going to a good place. I keep my fair share of fish as well, but it seeing them covered in dirt does bug me. Most photo worthy fish should go back, and if your fish is covered in dirt and gravel, it's not being taken car of very well before it does. It can cause unnecessary stress to the fish that could possibly be fatal. A nice quality fish dead for no reason does not sit well with me. 

If the fish is intended for release, then it's just an opportunity to educate.

It bothers me, but then, it never occurred to me to try to photograph one that way.  If I am alone and get a fish that I deem photo-worthy, I've always just held it out at arm's length and shot it.  They only other way I've took pics is laying on a boat ruler or bump board.  So, I suppose part of the reason I don't like it is because I never understood why its done.

 

 

Wait...I just remembered two fish photos I've taken on the ground.  One was a gar and the other was my first snakehead (I wasn't quite sure how to hold it) - and I planned to kill both anyway.