catch and release | Middle River Dispatches

Let’s ditch the hero shot for the scenery shot.

August 2, 2021 By Tom Sadler

I’m adding my voice to the increasing loud chorus of fly anglers who are tired of seeing “hero shots” of fish, especially trout. During this summer (or likely future) of high heat and water temps, the price of that ego stroke may very well be a dead fish. Ain’t nobody got time for that shit these days.

Todd and I wrote about this for MoJo awhile back > Fishing’s ‘Hero Pose’: How Do The Fish Feel?

Louis Cahill of Gink and Gasoline fame, wrote with a little more directness in Nobody Wants To See Your Rotting Corpse. Here is a taste that made my grumpy old man heart smile…

You want to prove you’re a better angler than everyone else? Just talk louder. That’s what every other beer swilling asshole at the local bar does! Just go down to the fly shop and blubber for an hour or two about how you only catch grass carp on 7X with dry flies and how everything else is bullshit. The end result will be the same. Everyone will know you’re an asshole and you don’t have to kill a fish and take out a Facebook ad to prove it!

Here’s a suggestion from TU’s Josh Duplechian Take photos of the scenery, not the fish while on the boat. This is why this is such a great suggestion.

Think about those fish photos you have. If you are like me you may have a hard time remembering where you caught it. Sure you may remember the river but what about the place where the fish ate the fly? For me that landscape shot, like the one below gets me thinking “yeah I remember that brookie eating right there…” Yup I’m reliving the moment all over again. The fish picture just won’t do that for me. Let’s ditch the hero shot for the scenery shot.

Respect the resource and lead by example. Keep the fish in the water and enjoy the moment for what it is. Now you’re a hero.

Mojo | The Week That Is: Fishing’s ‘Hero Pose’: How Do The Fish Feel?

March 25, 2021 By Tom Sadler Leave a Comment

Each week, I have the pleasure of joining Mountain Journal founder Todd Wilkinson in our “The Week That Is,” column where we discuss topical events relating to the nation’s capital city and the public land West.

This week’s conversation looks at fish photos, the why, how and whether there might be a better way to capture the moment.

Read it here > Fishing’s ‘Hero Pose’: How Do The Fish Feel?

Catch and release, catch and eat or quit fishing?

August 10, 2010 By Tom Sadler Leave a Comment

There is a very provocative and thoughtful discussion on fishing ethics, Catching, but Not Releasing in the New York Times’ Room for Debate. It well worth the read.

Here are the topics and authors.

Purity and Predation by James Babb, Gray’s Sporting Journal

Drive a Prius, Eat a Fish by Chris Hunt, Trout Unlimited

An Invasive Species or a Steelhead Run? by Cathy Beck, fishing guide, Frontiers International

The Shifting Moral High Ground by Dylan Tomine, fisherman and writer

Causing Pain for Our Pleasure by Lynne Sneddon, fish biologist, University of Liverpool, and

Feeling Little Pain by James Rose, zoologist, University of Wyoming

The comments are lengthy on these posts but if the topic intrigues you then the comments offer more grist for that particular mill.
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