Just how big is a "big fish"?
 

over 40 inches?, 25 pounds
45 inches, 40 pounds
over 50 pounds
any "keeper" is a big fish

I think 40" is a big fish (I was brought up on a fresh water lake, kibbie fishing)

My opinion on this is simple....it depends on the individual. Depending on what your biggest "fish" or striper or whatever the case by "your own" experience. I think 20-25 pound fish are pretty darn nice fish but I catch those pretty regularly. My own benchmark for big fish is any fish over 30 pounds. That is again, my benchmark. Others out there who catch 30 pound fish with regularity might have a benchmark of 40 pounds, so I really think it is up to the individual. 40" fish are pretty sweet, I love em'! :kewl:

Just the opinion of BigFish.....not to be confused with big fish!:laugha:

This BigFish however is 6'5" tall and a cheeseburger shy of 300 pounds.....:scream:...now thats a BigFish! :uhuh:

Depends on whose doing the looking at the fish....my 9 year old used to thing a 12" trout was big :)

Me? anything over 30" I consider a big fish.

for me
 

anything over 40 inches is a big fish.

When you go by pounds and not inches....

For me, anything over 40 inches, but hey, I wouldn't complain reeling in 38 " fish all night:D :laughs: johnny "the Ratt Boy"

When you're out and the only guy on the beach catching, every fish is a big fish!:D Especially when you know the others aren't rookies.

Backbeach Jake got that right! Middle of a hot August day last summer, the fishing was horrible it was just so oppressively hot! I was fishing the surf at the Race, things were so slow I was fishing a chunk of mack on the bottom, with the rod spiked, and throwing plugs with another rod closeby and the chunk rod started bobbing hard....I grabbed the rod and reeled in a nice fat 17 pound six oz. striper. Considering the only other people catching fish that day at the Race were wire line jigging on boats,that fish was pretty big that day. All fish are fun, just enjoy yourself.:btu:

10lbs...if I catch a 10 lb fish i've caught a BIG fish

Go get em' izzy!:btu:

Ok, I can agree with that, a 10 pound fish is a big fish

for me I'd say 25#+ is a big fish.......it's all good:D

as of right now...any fish on my line is a big fish... even a 9 inch schoolie.:happy:

36 in +, 20lb+ for me at least, my biggest last year was 18lb 35 inches during an all out 12+ hour blitz from monahans pier to narrow river. Got spooled by a monster shortly after halling in this one. Great day of fishing!!

What #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& said.

Me. #25

20+lb. striper, 10+lb. blue

Over 30#

10lb blue is big? We caught assloads of 15lb+ blues, got sick of em, just wanted some stripers!

How big is an "assload" Cheferson???? My guess is it would depend on the size of ones ass.:laugha: :hihi: I like the reference, very funny.:happy:

Any fish over 45" is a big fish. I had the honor of catching over 200 fish 15 to 30 lbs last year. No fish over 30 lb and no fish over 45 inches. 40 years chasin' Stripers and only 2 fish over 40 lbs. I still think that a 40 lb fish is the fish of a life time, never mind a 50.

Personally 30lb is my mark for big fish, since I catch a fair amount of 20's every season. The 40 lb fish are special and too far and few between for the typical weekend warrior like me. I just haven't been lucky enough to be in that right place at the right time the past few seasons to reach that 40 lb mark, this year for sure.

A 30# fish is good but I think a 40 is BIG then agian my fish don,t count anyway as I get most of them in the boat!!!!:laughs: :laughs:

I guess I need to start with the fact that I like ALL fish and there are times when catching tons of smaller fish are some of my most memorable times. Other memorable times are when catching big fish with friends and also forever etched in my mind, almost as revered, are the two times when I missed the Trophy

30#s is the start of "big fish" territory for me.

Schoolies: to keeper size
Teen fish: keeper to high teen fish (also referred to as dinks)
Rats: very high teen fish thru 25#s
Nice Fish: 25# to 30#
"Big Fish" - often referred to as large and "big gals": 30 pounders
COW Bass - high 30s over 40
Trophy Bass - 50 and up - been to the dance but went home alone.

I have yet to land cows (though my personal bests have straddled the "COW Bass" designation) or trophies

Boat fish do count but as 8th grade english reading classes impressed upon me, some fish are more equal than other fish :laughs:

When and why did we ever talk about the size of fish in inches? (IMO this was brought on by the onslaught of fly rodders taking school fish) I still think this is stupid! WEIGHT IN POUNDS is the only real measure of size for this fish. I hate when someone tells me they got a lot of fish over 30 and them mean inches :confused:

For me any bass over 25 lbs is a considered a big fish.
anything over 30 is a cow
anything over 40 is really big cow bass
anything over 50 is an outright sea-monster

Actually the reason people talk in inches is the fact that thats how you determine the legal size, by length not weight. this applies to most saltwater limits, Stripers, Cod, Haddock.

when freshwater fishing I've always referred to fish by weight but now I find myself referring to length because its the 1st thing I check to determine wether I'm keeping it or not.

I consider 30lb to be big fish from the boat; Had one cow last year, and many 20- ~25+ pounds (most released) all from the boat,

From shore, any fish over 20 is a good fish for me personally, and alot depends on conditions and location; a 20 from Q is different than a 20 from FPR is different from a 20 at the NR.. all have different circumstances regarding ease of landing, etc..

IMHO, ALL FISH COUNT... most of my boat fish came on lighter tackle than my surf stuff...

And Since I grew up during the moritorium, and catching anything close to a keepah was a challenege I tend to think anything with stripes is a nice fish!

If we are measuring , 40 inches. if we are weighing , over 30 lbs. I reallize these two measures are not the same minimum.

bryan i saw a pic of that fish you caught, something like 36 pounds? thats a nice fish man, it must have given you some sort of ride in your little boat, in the dark

Sandman I am with you we always talked in lbs up till I stopped fishing in the early 80s. Then I start to fish agian in the late 90s and everyone tells me they are catching 30+ stripers all the time so I figure there must be some monster bass out there. Come to find out its 30" not 30#:smash: :smash: I still think in lbs when someone tells me they got a real nice fish in the 30s but have learned to ask if they are talking lbs or inches!!!

Ps the world record is 78lbs not inches

For me anything over 40" is a "big" fish. I only land 3 or 4 of them a year up here in Maine. Anything over 30" is a good fish.

Here is a question. Does a fish in pounds bring images of a dead fish on a scale in front of a tackle shop? I think a fish in inches might have been a fish that got released to grow bigger. How many here carry an accurate scale for a fish greater than 30 pounds?

Just curious, I am not a strict C&R guy, although the CTDEP recently stated that you should not eat more than something like six meals of striper a year for mercury reasons....

I have been looking for a quality scale that I can cart around with me, other than a 60 pound Boga.

Bryan:
No one put it better than you did. A 20 at Q is quite different than the same fish at FPR and if you are waist deep at Carpenters, a 20 can be a huge fish. Never mind a 30# at Black Point on the reef, top of the tide, at 2 AM, NE wind at 20. That's when you see what you are really made off.

or how about the 'avenues' durring a big swell.

IMHO a BIG fish is anything over 45 inches.

Paul, good to hear from you, hadn't seen you on much..
Under the right conditions, a 20 from C-town, 3-5ft swell, plus chop feels like a monster... got smashed up a few times doing that.... glad I brought my rope...


Black point honestly scares me when it's like that... when conditions get that primal I tend to stay on the sand....

I think it kinda depends on what your mindset is. When I'm chasing schoolies with light tackle, or throwing plastic into the rocks, a teen fish is pretty big.

If I'm livelining bait or tossing eels at night, I have different expectations and I think fish over 20lbs are pretty big.

But my scale goes like:

keeper size = decent fish
teens-20lb = nice fish
20lb-25lb = good fish
25-35lb = big fish
35-50lb = huge fish
50lb - up = MONSTER fish

Anything over 30 lbs, 20 lbers are fairly common in the places I fish.

:confused:

Lookie!! Bassmaster just burned his own spot!:eek: Geeze I'm gettin tappy, any fish would be big right now.:D

That's a big fish and I can smell the honey suckel from here.