This isn’t the first time we’ve posted here about taking a great fish pic, if you scroll back through you’ll find the great piece that Simon Lancastle did for us that detailed how to go about capturing the perfect self take. But as time moves on, so does technology and things become even easier for us. Jansen Teakle gives us his thoughts on the new Spooligan Capcha, a device tailor made for the angler who likes a fish-based selfie.
Picture this (no pun intended)- You’re fishing alone, it’s a beautiful day and you’ve already taken a few pictures of the sunrise, rod tips and waves gently washing up the beach.
Suddenly your rod tip pulls down and the line falls slack. Within moments you slide a prime cod up the beach! You look around and realise that you’re the only witness to your capture.
Thankfully you do have your phone, and you snap some pics of your catch on the deck. You want to put your fish back, so hurriedly hold it in one hand, phone in the other and attempt to snap away. You fire off about ten shaky pictures, but to your horror, your eyes are closed, your tongue is hanging out and the cod’s tail has been cut off. Even the best shot is blurry, but it’s time to pop your fish back…. Off she swims, your only memory being the carnage of selfies that now fill your camera roll. We’ve all been there. But worse still is when you’re fishing with a friend who makes a hash of things. Every now and again I come across the pics of my best bass and almost cry.
The first thing I’ll say now though is to take control of the situation for yourself. The technology is there so don’t rely on others to make a mess of things. You want to be able to look back on that catch with fond memories, not regrets, and it’s now easier than ever. One such company who have become accustomed to solving the problems encountered by sea anglers is Spooligan, and recognising that fish-based selfies are problematic for many anglers, they looked to develop a solution. Queue the Capcha- a small and lightweight device that can be attached to just about anything and will hold your phone securely whilst you concentrate on posing with your catch. Keeping the phone still is half the battle and camera shake is probably the first reason why an image will be out of focus. What I really like about this Capcha is its size, it’s so compact it will fit in your pocket and it weighs next to nothing. Your phone is attached by means of heavy duty elastic that you pull over all four corners. The bracket on the Captcha is held beneath this elastic ‘web’ in such a way that the phone can be turned through a full 360 degree rotation enabling you to take both landscape and portrait shots. The bracket itself slots in to the Spooligan Adapta and Spooligan Dock, meaning that you can easily attach your Capcha to your tripod, seat box, back rest conversion, beach shelter frame and more. It really is so versatile and easy to use. Once you’ve decided where to position your Capcha, flip your phone’s camera to the front facing lens and set a countdown timer, say cheese, and you’re done. Of course there are now all manner of apps aimed towards these self takes, as well as Bluetooth remotes that will take a pic when you press a button, so there really is no excuse now for taking a bad pic. But don’t wait for the fish to hit the beach, get self set up ahead of time so that you’re good to go when the magic happens. Keep the Capcha with your scales and weigh sling so that you know where it is when that fish comes in. Take a look at your surroundings and work out where you will position the capcha and where you will position yourself. If you intend to release your fish then getting it weighed and pictured as quickly as possible really is the aim of the game.