AOTY measuring for large fish to be released

It is important to some people.

It is virtually impossible to measure anything over 36" solo that will be released.

Are we saying that we want all large fish caught to be killed for AOTY?

Yes a few inches matter! Currently several people are separated by just a few inches an in the past two years it has come down to a final fish late in December.... all inches matter.

I am just trying to get a ruling before it is an issue.

Are there any other ideas on how to measure a big fish solo that isn't going to meet the frying pan?

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I'm not sure what "ruling" you're looking for.  The rules are clear.

Photographic evidence of fish size against a measuring device must be provided.

I think the issue you have is you don't know how to get clear photographic evidence against a known measuring device.

Here's are the issues I see.  You need one pic showing the overall measurement.  It'll be hard to get the whole fish in the pic sitting so near.  You'll need a second pic showing the detailed actual measurement, like a tail shot, so we can see the numbers..  Also, IMO, curvature is bad.

-Allen

Why not just have a buddy take the photo? I think we've done that for sturgeon a couple of times. Or are you mostly fishing solo?

Get a musky cradle..something like the following..

http://www.muskyshop.com/modules/cart/products.php/nav_id/19/page/1/id/402/name/FrabillMuskyCradle

60" long with a built in measuring device.

Get a musky cradle..something like the following..

http://www.muskyshop.com/modules/cart/products.php/nav_id/19/page/1/id/402/name/FrabillMuskyCradle

60" long with a built in measuring device.

That just looks like a disaster waiting to happen with a big halibut.   

-Allen

Getting the fish in the cradle will be tough ... getting it to hold still will be just luck and trying to hold it over the side of the yak and get your camera far enough to get it all in one pic will probably put you in the drink ....

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So the issue isn't so much taking the measurement so much as getting a halibut to hold still long enough to document the measurement.

Here's what I'd do.  Take a video of the whole process.  Do it on 720p60 so you get the most frames per second.  Perhaps you'll get lucky and be able to extract a still out of it, that satisfies the photographic evidence requirements.

-Allen

I didn't realize we were primarily talking about halibut.  Good luck on catch, measure, photo and release of a big one of those.   I think that's one fish you really can't treat nicely and still get a decent measurement.

I still think a cradle would work well on a big king or a ling that you wanted to release later.

I didn't realize we were primarily talking about halibut.  Good luck on catch, measure, photo and release of a big one of those.   I think that's one fish you really can't treat nicely and still get a decent measurement.

X2

I was thinking of Sturgeon, Salmon, Steelhead and large Macs.  Good luck with a 'but.  My go to method was harpoon now measure later but that obviously wouldn't help with your plans to release.

I've never had an occasion to try and use it on a fish, but the most recent point-and-shoot camera I purchased has an auto-panoramic setting and I imagine such a mode is probably pretty standard on newer dedicated cameras.  The camera does the work of stitching what would be multiple shots together on the fly.  If the fish is longer than the measuring device, at least you'd have the benefit of having the whole thing in a single image and could extrapolate from there.