Jacob--

Nice fish. I can understand your excitement!

I also fish alone alot, and have in my time collected some "fish lying on bank next to pole" shots. I don't anymore. Not worth it. For ANY fish...except those missing the appropriate fin who have already swam off to the great spawning riffle in the sky.

The thing is that the picture sucks. The rod is no measure of scale (looks just like the 9 pounder I C-n-R'd yesterday) and the fish is covered in sand. The instant I saw that pic I heard the sickening sound of a fish being stuck in the sand...it's like rolling a slug in salt. Still, you were probably motivated by a desire to hurry, snap the pic, and get it back in the water...next time, savor the moment a few swallows, bring the fish to your hand in the shallows, and be ready for it with your pliers between your teeth. Quicker isn't always the most delicate.

I know you're getting your share of flak right now and I sympathize--hopefully you are able to see that posters here are passionate about the resource and only encouraging low-impact hook and release methods and not necessarily flaming you in particular.

I remember one of my first posts--I was excited about fishing a planter lake with single eggs--received an indignant reply that using bait for trout was evil and I was wrong for doing so...but then you'd swear some guys are so conservationally-minded they don't use bait, hooks, line, weight, rod or reel, internal combustion engines, waders made of petroleum products, wool gloves, styrofoam corkies, any 3M product, &c. &c. &c. I mention this by saying that yes, there are extremists out there, but that no, the posters above chastising you for roughing up one of the big boys are not those kind of extremists.

Thanks for tolerating all these critical posts--I for one hope you stick around.