This is one obstacle that I’ve had mixed feelings over for some time when it comes to fishing photography. What do you do with the dang net? For the longest time I hated having a net in my photos. I always felt it was a prison for the subject. A way to take the focus off of a wild species and make it more human impacted. Over time I’ve slowly begun to find ways to incorporate it that look okay to me. The two big pluses for leaving it in the image are one it gives you more time to work with the subject, especially in case you drop the fish and two it’s safer for the subject. Working with aquatic species can be tough because you have to be careful of how long you keep them out of the water. The one little trick I have found in post production when it comes to net usage is really darken the edges so it’s not to distracting.
Image Captured with Nikon D5, 24-70 AF-S, SB-5000 Flash, on Lexar UDMA Digital Film