Fishing for Stories via Instagram

As an avid female angler, I'm excited by how much hashtags for women in the sport have changed this year alone. The new tag #lessskinmorefin sums it all up: it's becoming less acceptable to post photos of women in teeny bikinis (or less) holding up giant, suffering fish. But a quick comparison of #womenwhofish vs. #girlswhofish shows there is still a long way to go in the sexualization of women on the water. I was at a loss when I wanted to tag pics of the 10-year-old girls who won our local fishing derby last year. I learned about #keepemwet from Heather Hodson of #unitedwomenonthefly – and we had a great giggle about the double entendre for women who fish when we met in person after several likes exchanged on Instagram. I've also made wonderful male fishing buddies IRL via Instagram and received great encouragement from male anglers on my posts – many of whom have opposite political views from me. I won't discount how much my gender identity plays a role in my likes, but it does make me feel more welcome in a sport that has been traditionally dominated by upper middle-class white men. I applaud #5050onthewater and also hope we can expand on that soon with less of a gender binary. And I agree with the other commenters that Instagram is antithetical to the solitary raison-d'etre of our sport, but I think that when it opens doors for new generations and spreads awareness of conservation practices and policy, it's a net positive for all. (Terrible fishing pun intended.)

A good article but if they are doing it wrong a very important thing that their maintenance of the fish is that it is so out of the water since with bare hands or without protection you will damage the protective layer of the fish since they can not live without That is because if you were to release them, they are apparently unharmed.

You're doing it wrong. Holding the fish like that out of the water, with bare hands, damages the fish's protective slimy coating. They cannot live without it. Even if released to swim away seemingly unharmed, those two fish will likely die. Please stop doing this and learn to fish properly. Richard M Lidzbarski Portland, OR

The "grip and grin hero shot" is indeed on the rise. For most serious and thoughtful anglers, though, it's pretty much an object of scorn.

Yeah, kill all the fish, cool!

The poor fish. I have no doubt that many of them die as a result of this unwanted contact with humans. There's just no respect for nature anymore.

Then there many who fish for the solitude of being in remote surroundings and getting away from the hustle and bustle. We marvel at the vistas and the experience of embracing nature and the serenity of a pristine environment unspoiled by man. I find it at odds to tarnish the experience with thoughts of something such as "social media".

Many in the angling community have mixed feelings about this phenomenon of posting pics. Fishing - fly or other - can be personal, a great way to bond with friends, or a way to get away from grid, or all of the above, etc. I was disappointed the first article didn't cover both sides of the debate, and then to publish another and not get into topics like conservation and the corresponding pressures that comes with posting is a disservice. To suggest that fishing is a great uniter in face of much politicization without mentioning current EPA policy shift, the fact that there is legislation in congress now, etc. is weak. While I'd like to think that the social element can facilitate positive outcomes on topics like protecting resources - I'll hold judgment given the rest of what we're seeing. Keep 'em wet https://www.keepemwet.org/

What fun steelhead are to catch.

Rich people fishing. Not real fishermen.