Recently two big fish controversies have occured. The first was the 18 (or 16) pound largemouth caught down in one of the San Diego lakes, that will lakely take over the lead in the Big Bass Record Club contest.
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/recreation/fish00112cci.shtml

The second was the (now withdrawn) potential state record rainbow trout taken at SARL.
http://www.ocregister.com/sports/recreation/fish00112cci.shtml

These two controversies made me think about an important question. What SHOULD you do when you catch a trophy fish?

I have a little experience in this regard with my 15-12 largemouth out of San Pablo this year. There definitely is a LOT of excitement about catching a big fish, not only you being excited, but the people around you being excited. This can cause things to get a little bit stupid which opens the door to controversy, name calling, etc.
So here are some outlines that I think will help you out if you do hook a true lunker.

#1 - Before you even leave for the water, make sure you have your CAMERA and your digital SCALE. Why are you after trophy fish if you don't have a camera and a good reliable, accurate scale?

#2 - Right after you land the fish you are going to be really pumped. The first thing you need to do is to decide if you are going to keep the fish or release it.

A - If you are going to keep the fish, put it on a stringer and get it to the nearest marina AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. That doesn't mean hanging around to see if you might catch more, that means packing up and booking.

B - If you are going to release the fish you have two options. Weigh and photograph it yourself, or keep it alive and bring it to the nearest marina. If you are going to weigh and photograph it yourself, and release it where you caught it, get down to business and start photographing and weighing. If it's really a trohpy, using up the entire camera in a few minutes ain't a bad idea. Take pictures that give a point of reference so that people will believe you when they see the pictures. That doesn't mean holding in front of your 4 year old kid to make it look monstrous. Get a good reliable weight. That means holding the scale until it doesn't flicker. Do this all quickly and make sure that you are not killing the fish in the process!!
If you are going to take the fish to a marina to get it weighed, fill your livewell and get the fish in there as fast as you can. When you get to the marina, let them know that you have a big fish and you want to weigh it. Do your best to weigh it somewhere on solid ground (ie not the dock, the boat, etc). At San Pablo they had a real digital scale to set the fish on. I left the fish in the livewell, ran up there and they gave me a big tray to lay the fish in while I ran it up and back. There was no question about the weight of the fish. It was on solid ground on a flat table on a scale that had already been zero'd out to the weight of the tray. After the weighing and the pictures, either get the fish back in the livewell to take it back to where you caught it, or release it right there in the marina. At San Pablo I let the fish go in the marina. She was so fat that she didn't fit too well in my livewell, and I would much rater have released the fish healthy in the marina, than further traumatized back at her hole.

#4 - Above all, make up your mind early what you are going to do with the fish. I have heard several stories now, where the angler first decided to keep the fish but later hoped to release it, only to have it die or be totally wrecked. The excitement of a big fish will make you want to keep it, but if you can decide before you head out to the lake what you are going to do in the event that you catch a giant, everything will go much smoother.

-Rob