Bag-Shots

In the light of the debate over a bag photo of an amazing catch of bream by a youngster, what's the collective wisdom on what to carry and what procedures to follow to record the happy event should you have more success than you anticipated?
It's not happened to me, yet, and I should hate to screw up if it does, so what should I pack, apart from mat, scales and camera, for either a roving trip after chub or a static session after bream?
When bream are the quarry, do you stop and weigh each fish as it is caught (remembering the feeding/catching spell is likely to be brief) or later - and if later, how?
My instinct would be ,having made the catch, to sort out the bounciest bit of ground I could find/make, take the bag shot, pop any I wanted individual weights for back in the keepnet (and the net back in the water); weigh and return the rest in batches in the landing net head, then get the weghts and portraits of the best couple of fish. That would be as close as I can get to good matchmens' practice ... but what do/would to you do?

My advice would be leave the keepnet at home. Weigh and/or photograph only the fish you want to keep a record of and return all fish as quickly as possible.

If you feel you need to use a keep net to prevent the fish spooking the fish in your swim then use it for that purpose and no other.

Weigh and photograph any biggies before putting them in the keepnet. At the end of your session the fish in the keepnet can be returned without having to lift the keepnet from the water.

Never have been keen on massive bag-shots.

Two or three good specimen fish is ok because it shows the potential of the fishery, I suppose. But then there are those who'll say they don't want to see any publicity (enter Graham Marsden on his pet subject).

So long as you're careful in not retaining the fish for too long or overcrowding the net then I don't see any problem. Just make sure they swim away strongly and healthily.

Unlike in an overnight match our club had one year. Bream bags of around 100 lbs were common and photos were taken of the catch after it had been weighed. But then the fish were literally slung back into the water with most of them remaining on their sides. I asked a couple of the lads with waders to right those fish and eventually they all swam off ok.

I was thinking about this on the way to work - dangerous, when cycling through London traffic - and my first working conclusion is that the main thing is to have a plan. Work out what's the best thing to do, with the minimum of handling and air-time for the fish, and don't do it till you've thought it through several times, set the camera up, or planned the shots with a friend/nearby angler/ freshly hijacked passer-by; figured out whether to weigh first or photograph first; THEN and only then set hands on the keepnet and work fast.

When I said two or three good specimens I mean that if the lake/river can say produce occasional bream over 6lb then make those the target. Any below that figure return immediately. That way you may end up with one or two, but they will certainly be easier to manage.

You're right about thinking everything through first Alan. This is something you should practice with everything you do to try to elimate any tricky elements. Far too many people rush into something without giving it sufficient thought and that's where problems begin.

Like in painting landscapes etc., they say you should spend 5 minutes thinking time for 1 minute of painting.

Alan, in the words of John Macenroe "You cannot be serious" ?

Been ther done that and bought the T-shirt!

Best advice I can give is forget it, bag shots are a nightmare given form. I do not want to be a hypocrite but don't bother with the bag shot, they are a waste of effort.

Couldn't agree more -why people feel the need to have these stupid shots is beyond me. If you catch 25 bream you catch 25 bream, end of story. I have done it when younger, particularly in Ireland, but I was never comfortable with the way the fish lay on top of each other when lifting the net out, and the way they knocked into each other. They got damaged, definitely, who knows how much.

I can understand people weighing and photographing big fish, but that's all. I can never understand why people insist on weighing every fish, too. Why bother weighing a 3lb chub or a 4lb barbel?

Bag shots are about ego, for me.

Isn't "Ego" why matchmen compete against each other, and why specimen hunters weigh their larger fish?
If all that motivated us was the chance to sit by a pond, there wouldn't be much of a tackle trade, or a market for angling books, magazines, or websites, would there?
The urge to compare notes with other hunters is as primal as the urge to hunt. Photography and the spring balance have given us non-destructive ways to record and share our most treasured memories, and to ask people to pass up the chance of that seems folly. It's just a matter of doing it the right way, which is what I am hoping to ascertain by this thread.
For the "pleasure angler" - one neither committed to catching the biggest fish in the land or fishing matches, a memorable multiple catch of shoal fish is a memory to be cherished, and therefore, if possible, recorded; it is from the point of view of the pleasure angler "ambushed" by success that I hope to find the "Right way" to do this.

nothing wrong with ego, if you are committed to doing the shot then all I can say is plan it like a millitary opperation!

Like Lee I've done the bag shot thing many times and with various species.

It is too much hassle and even with the best of intentions and planning it's difficult to achieve good results smoothly.

I do still use a keepnet for small fish such as Roach, Crucians and Perch were allowed. I like brace shots of these smaller species and done correctly, with planning, practice and the correct tools it can be done smoothly.

If you're going to go down that route anyway, at least use a 'euro' type Carp mat and have a bucket of water ready.

Actually my favourite sort of shot is of a single or brace of fish placed next to the rod in the landing net without myself - an ugly bugger sitting holding the fish.

You can create some truly wonderful pictures of a single fish laid on soft grass with the odd dandylion or buttercup in the picture. If there is no soft grass around you have to use an unhooking matt of course.

The last bag shot I ever did was of me with those winter caught tench if you remember. But the picture was actually done in seconds and I had two helpers with me.

And tench are the most keepnet friendly fish of the lot.