How do you selfie a fish over 40"

I ran into that problem yesterday while trying to capture a picture of me holding this giant that hit my VMC moon eye jig on 10# Suffix while I was walleye fishing. The jig and minnow bite has been hard to beat in Ely lately, with a lot of the eyes hanging out in 30 feet in some lakes. The pike have been quite active in the same depth and hooking into a 40″+ fish is bound to happen if you put some time in. Lucky for me this mamma got hooked in the side of the mouth and though she fought like a laker through the ice the 832 held true. After towing the boat around the narrows for a while, biting and swimming through the net (twice)… landing her was the easy part. Taking a picture of us hanging out in my boat with her better interests in mind however, was a difficult task. How do you guys do it? I suppose my phone camera probably has a timer, but it seems like setting timer and checking to see how it framed out until you get it right isn’t so good if you want the fish to swim away in good shape. I also had to try to not damage the fish while holding her, so I took one angle with her in my lap and the other leaned up against my chest so she wasn’t hanging by her gill plate. Share your thoughts!

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selfie stick

I have a small point-and-shoot digital that has a 10 second self timer. If I set it on the front seat, it’s at a perfect height for me sitting in the stern seat holding a fish. I keep the fish in the water (in the net) while I turn on the camera, set the 10 second timer, and then setting it down on the front chair. Then I have <10 seconds to pick up the fish and get in the rear seat. After the flash, the fish goes back. Sometimes I don’t get a good picture but in any event I know the fish was out of the water for less than 15 or 20 seconds.

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I have a timer function on my camera which can be set to take a series of shots over a given time period. I’ll set it to take 5 photos in a 60 second time period. That gives me 5 chances to get a good photo and the fish is out of the water maybe 70-80 seconds. Even if in the first frame or two I’m still getting the fish in position, I usually end up with at least one good photo.

Huntindave wrote:

I have a timer function on my camera which can be set to take a series of shots over a given time period. I’ll set it to take 5 photos in a 60 second time period. That gives me 5 chances to get a good photo and the fish is out of the water maybe 70-80 seconds. Even if in the first frame or two I’m still getting the fish in position, I usually end up with at least one good photo.

I like that, wish my camera had that function.

Don’t catch big fish problem solved! lol awesome fish Ben taking a pick of a fish like that is just the troubles of fishing. I fish a lone often so I run into that problem a bit and I just lay it on a tape and just take a pic of the fish.

Ben, if you have an I phone, there is a timer setting on the camera, put the camera so you are taking a selfie so you can see it, and hit the timer! problem solved

nice pike! cool that you handled it so well, too.

practice with your camera when you don’t have a fish at hand. there’s just no way around the fact that preparation is key for when you “need” to get that great picture and you’re all alone.
grab a 45″ stick and pose with it in your boat for some shots:

– figure out how to use your camera’s timer (and/or remote); set it to the longest possible delay to give you more time

– determine best camera placement, such as on a bump seat (lock the swivel!). i prefer the camera to be level or slightly above the subject so that the fish and person are fully visible

– determine best place to stand so that the fish fills the photo without cutting anything out

– practice setting the camera up, triggering the timer, pulling the fish from the water, getting in position, etc. before the camera takes the shot

here’s a couple of examples of what i’m describing: a couple of poor ones and one good one, all solo shots.

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Huntindave wrote:

I have a timer function on my camera which can be set to take a series of shots over a given time period. I’ll set it to take 5 photos in a 60 second time period.

That, and a Gorillapod. I have one for my point & shoot, but it looks like they even make them for cell phones.

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Man you guys sure have figured out a lot about phones – camera’s. I’ve just put them back unfortunately w/o picture under those circumstances. Innovative to say the least.

Thanks guys, I knew I could count on some great new ideas for next time!

That’s easy – just catch smaller fish.

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I use a GPS holster with suction cup meant for vehicle. Goes on boat windshield, holds camera phone which has an app for time lapse photos.

Position your phone for a great picture then go fishing. When you net fish set up phone in holster same way as before and start snapping pics.

Preparation!!

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FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

I use a GPS holster with suction cup meant for vehicle. Goes on boat windshield, holds camera phone which has an app for time lapse photos.

Position your phone for a great picture then go fishing. When you net fish set up phone in holster same way as before and start snapping pics.

Preparation!!

Yeah, but you’re like what, 5’6″? Maybe 5’8″? What about people who are tall or have long arms?

“I have a timer function on my camera which can be set to take a series of shots over a given time period. I’ll set it to take 5 photos in a 60 second time period. That gives me 5 chances to get a good photo and the fish is out of the water maybe 70-80 seconds. Even if in the first frame or two I’m still getting the fish in position, I usually end up with at least one good photo.

I like that, wish my camera had that function.
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Prop your phone up against something – Start recording a video – Step back, smile for an abnormal amount of time and strike a pose – slow scroll through the video, pause, and screenshot….. voilà.

I’d like to hear Debbie’s input.

Haha Joel, you’re a genius! Lucky for me I took a quick video holding the fish!

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Glad I could help. If you are an iPhone user you can also adjust the quality from 30-60FPS as described in the link below.

If you’re fishing out of a boat, find a holder that will mount somewhere convenient for a quick set up time (windshield?). With a little trial and error you can find the perfect spot in your boat for the “40” selfie. Should be able to have that fish back in the water in less than a minute. May be the difference in that fish surviving or not during those “warm” Minnesota summers.

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/pro-tip-capture-video-at-a-higher-frame-rate-with-iphone-6/

My method definitely worked tonight; unhook, weighing, length, and photo this 59″ 39# fish in under 60 seconds time out of water.

Prepped before the catch

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I wouldn’t use a phone. Point and shoot with a timer is the best option. And you can probably get a pretty inexpensive one with those features if the only reason is you want good photos when fishing alone. You need the timer, and preferably one you can also set to multishot w/ timer.

I need to find my old one and see if it still works. I think it wasn’t working very well the last time I tried it, the battery was draining. Even holding a medium size and taking a selfie with the phone is awkward and makes fairly poor pictures IMO.

For those that have a GoPro, you can also set the field of view to narrow like a normal camera and set it to take time lapse video. The time lapse saves jpgs at whatever interval you set it up at. The down size is the resolution (mega pixels) and color will not be as good. But if you are taking the photo for a good memory, it will do.