Poll: To Euro Pose or not To Euro Pose

Since I've been carp fishing these past 8 years or so, I've seen thousands of fish poses. Poses range from hugging the fish with forearms and taking a selfie with one hand to the famous European carp pose where the fish is held over a landing mat with two hands and instead of looking at the camera the fisherman looks instead at the carp's head.

Carp are revered in most of Europe whereas carp fishing is still gaining momentum here in the U.S. Enthusiasm for carp in the U.S. pales in comparison to bass or catfish.

Thousands of dollars and hours are spent in Europe to catch relatively few fish per the level of expense. There just aren't as many carp in European waters and the ones that are caught are often in private lakes owned by a "club" or "syndicate" (think country club or the U.S. version of a sportsman's club).

I chuckle now everytime I see one of the Euro-style photos. They seem a little out of place at times and I get a little uncomfortable at the reverence being displayed.

As for me, I'll stick to looking directly at the camera in my carp photos, but just for fun I'll throw in an Euro pose for some amusement.

Truth be told, when I started carping I tried the European-style poses a few times. My wife made fun of me and busted out laughing several times, so I stopped doing it. :-)

And now for our poll:

Do you use the European-style poses in your own carp photos?