Yak Tourney Measuring Board?

[FLsALTyAK]

I've successfully caught many inshore saltwater fish from the yak. Soon I'll be competing in my first CPR (catch-photo-release) kayak fishing tournament. I've acquired a Fish Stik (YakGear) measuring board for the event (the tourney doesn't require any specific brand(s)/type(s) of measuring board). I'll be using an iPhone for pix.
Some of the tourney's CPR rules:
- no lip-holding device in the pix.
- no hand(s) on the fish in the pix.
- cannot restrain fish to measuring board with bungee, strap, etc.

My main question: how the devil to get the fish to lay still for the pix (especially a flounder! LOL!) ???

Advice/recommendations/suggestions needed. Thx!

[kickingback]

Practice! The more you wear the fish out before you net it the calmer it will be on the board. Handle the fish carefully and place them on the board using your grips or hands. Once on the board take off the grips if used and use both hands to calm the fish and steady it on the board to take a photo. I have found placing both hands on the fish calms it. With one hand on the fish and the other holding the phone line up your shot then move your hand off the fish and take as many photos while the fish is calm. Once taken simply grab the board and move over the water and drop the board into the water letting the fish go on it's way. This way you can "wash" your board of fish slime at the same time of release.
Make sure your board is in center of yak and not handing over you side in case the fish gets cocky and starts flapping off the board they will fall into the yak instead of the water. If it flopped then it wasn't tired out and you have to calm it down again.
That is how I have learned to "calm the fish" before photo and release.

[Yakety_Yak]

I hear ya on this. I've been fishing in the Kayak Wars online tournament for quite a few years now. What I'm about to tell you has happened before but being that you just posted about this and it happened over the weekend, I felt that I should mention it.

I was fishing in POC this past Saturday. I just pulled in a 20" spec trout. After getting the fish to finally calm down, I was able to remove the fish grip from the fish (I normally keep the grip on as KWs doesn't require it to be out of the pic and in my pics you can see the mouth of the fish is flush with the 0 mark on the board.). I was lucky enough to get the pic of the fish on the board while the fish was not moving. Immediately after the pic was taken, that fish pounced everywhere off the board and on the yak and into the water. I was keeping fish that day so that was one that I had lost. I've had times though where I was about to take the pic and all of a sudden, the fish jumps and into the water it goes without the pic being taken. That is why I try to keep the grip on the fish.

I dislike that some online tournaments require that nothing be in the pic but the board and the fish. I feel that if you can show all the requirements necessary to fulfill the pic and it show that everything is legit, why not? Certain tournaments just don't want to deal with it. I also understand that with all the people that have tried to cheat in the past. It's a shame that people have to stoop so low to try and win a tournament.

Basically, as kickingback has mentioned, you need to calm that fish and wear it out some. Hopefully after the pic has been retained, you will be able to revive the fish and get back to fishing fairly quickly.

[kickingback]

They should get a bunch of go pros and hand them out at each tourney with a head band. You have to download the data upon return and give them back the go pros for next tourney. Simple fix! That way you can catch ALL cheaters red handed and not have to worry.