I just saw a bunch of hero shots posted today by a guide on the SR after he gleefully proclaimed that it was beginning to warm up at -6 degrees. 
Is it me or am I missing something?  If you have any respect for the fish and the fishery why then are you holding a fish up out of the water at these temperatures.  Absolutely incredible.

They are cold blooded, right?
And if we really had "respect" for the fish, none of us would be piercing it's mouth with razor sharp hooks, dragging it against its will, playing a fish for our own enjoyment, then taking it out of where it can breathe(at any temp, doesn't matter), then throwing it back in the water and trying to do the same thing again.
I think your reaction is a subjective one and an exaggeration. There are much weightier matters to be up in arms about. This isn't one of them.

I think it doesn't take long for gill rakers to freeze in these temps.
I also think there is a big difference between a hook in a fish's mouth and chancing killing a fish you are going to release for the sake of a few pics.
I don't know the whole story, did the guide have his camera ready so the fish was only out of the water for less than 5 seconds, so I won't comment on the particular incident.
 
 

http://www.biblegateway.c...A26-28&version=KJV

I can say I have been guilty in the past of putting the picture before the fish. Like letting it flop around on the rocks and stuff.     The excitement and adrenaline make you do things.......    I have tried to be better this year.

Troutbum I understand that God gave us dominion over the feesh. I'm simply responding to your complaint about a lack of respect for fish. It's a subjective response. Someone else might use the same passage to say that we shouldn't torture Gods creation because He made it.
In one breath ur complaining that someone has no respect for the fish, and in the next ur using the Bible to give us permission to catch fish.
Contradiction?
I certainly advocate for proper fish handling, but the whole debate is pretty subjective, other than some
obvious gill raking slobs.

Subjective, hardly.  Holding a fish out of water in minus degree temperatures for the vanity of a picture is just as egregious as raking gills. 
Catch fish for sustenance yes, mishandle for selfish reasons no.  Hardly a contradiction. 

Do we know if the fishermen were going to keep their legal limit? If they are going to keep the fish then it doesn't matter.......just saying.  I throw all my fish back as soon as possible. Used to keep a few Salmon in the 80's but for trout its a "flash and a splash".

"At any temperature colder than freezing, a fish's gills are very susceptible to freezing when exposed to air," says Sue Marcquenski, DNR fish health specialist. "It is best to keep the fish in the water as much as possible while removing the hook."
When temperatures start running below 10 degrees F, a fish's eyes are also at risk of being damaged.
"When it's really cold, you might notice the fish's eyes become opaque when they're out of the water," says Marcquenski. "It's possible that the cornea has frozen and although the eyes clear up when the fish is put back in the water, the cornea or lens might have been damaged. Fungus or bacteria in the water can also infect the damaged cornea, perhaps leading to blindness.

Clint S
I can say I have been guilty in the past of putting the picture before the fish. Like letting it flop around on the rocks and stuff.     The excitement and adrenaline make you do things.......    I have tried to be better this year.

Clint I think we all go thru a learning curve.
But a guide should know better, if the fish were  indeed out of the water for more than a few seconds.
Again I haven't seen the pics in question so am just commenting in general not this specific case.
Having the camera ready, the sport kneeling and the fish picked up and back in the water quickly goes a long way in protecting the fish.
Ya the hands might get cold putting it back in the water between multiple pics but it is a small price to do the right thing.