I remember going saltwater fishing in Florida with my uncle and one of his buddies (Rick) almost 20 yrs ago. I was in Rick's boat and we were fishing in a cove off the Marco River. This was my first time doing saltwater fishing.
I hooked a fish and started reeling in. It was a bit smaller than the crevalle jack I had hooked earlier that morning. It was shiny, too. It was a ladyfish. I reeled it in, happy as I could to to catch ANYTHING, as the fishing had sucked most of the day. I landed the fish in the boat and started removing the hook. Rick immediately and urgently told me to hold the fish over the side, out of the boat. I thought "okay, already, I'm holding it over the side of the boat". I commenced to removing the hook and threw the ladyfish back in the water.
I asked Rick: why was it so urgent to hold the fish over the side of the boat over the water?
His answer? Because lady fish will poop on you!
He never had to tell me to hold the fish outside the boat again!