Avoid netting your trophy if possible.   Avoid letting your trophy flop around in the boat or on the shore.   Avoid gutting or cutting your trophy.   Take a good color photo of your trophy if possible while alive.   Measure your trophy from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose. Measure the girth in the widest area around the belly.   Examine the fish for the best show side.   Immediately after catching your trophy, wrap it in a clean wet towel (no newspaper) with its fins smoothed against its body. Seal in a plastic bag and freeze.   If you are unable to freeze your trophy, immediately place fish flat in a cooler of ice with the show side up - DO NOT PUT ANYTHING ON TOP OF THE FISH! Freeze fish as soon as possible.