The End of Grip ‘N Grins?

In this story by Marty Grabijas, for Fly Fisherman Magazine, he opines on a topic that I reckon will strike a chord with many anglers – the grip ‘n grin photo. Or, as it’s sometimes called, the “hero shot.”

“Does the world really need another grip and grin social media post?” He asks by way of starting the article. Instead of these pictures – which stress trout, since taking a fish out of water, even for a small amount of time, is stressful – he advocates for using our fancy smartphones to take better underwater pictures of the fish. At the very least, more shots of the fish still in the water, held gently with the gills submerged.

Or, to use Grabijas’ words directly:

“My journey with this started with the strong belief that if I am going screw with a fish’s day by dragging it out of its environment, I hold the immense responsibility to return it to the water in the best possible condition. Those grip-and-grin photos are roughly the equivalent of someone slapping you around for some period of time until you are totally worked, and then suffocating you with a plastic bag. Water-resistant smartphones like current iPhones help to return fish to the water in the best possible condition, while you are still able to capture the moment.”

The push for more ethical fish photography comes on the heels of Keep Fish Wet’s No Fish Dry July challenge, in which the conservation group urges anglers to not take pictures of fish out of the water for the entire month of July. It would seem, based on current discourse, that the community is taking a much harder look at how it treats the fish that are so integral to this sport.

You can read the entirety of Grabijas’ post here.