heavy fish vs length this year - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Saltheart · 06-16-2009, 11:23 AM

I have noticed a lot of the striper Cup fish appear very heavy compared to what we would expect based on ;length. Fortunately these fish are weighed at a weigh station so there can be no pissing contest about the reported weights.

Just curious as to opinions on why the fish are so heavy vs length this year? Lots of bait I guess but it sure seems unusual to me. Any thoughts?

redlite · 06-16-2009, 12:02 PM

more bait= bigger and healthier fish.
the two fish i have weighed in so far, one from newport, one from cutty both had tatauog in them

Rappin Mikey · 06-16-2009, 12:02 PM

The fish that I used to keep out of the river this time of year were usually full of eggs.

maddmatt · 06-16-2009, 12:25 PM

at least from the cape beaches.....seems to still kinda be spring mode...wait till august.....they'll be long and skinny then.

tynan19 · 06-16-2009, 01:21 PM

Well for one the guy who weighed my fish measured it in a bucket at 38 inches. It was 45 inches when we all measured it.

Back Beach · 06-16-2009, 01:28 PM

They've been carrying good weight for the last two years...except the ones I catch of course.

jkjnp · 06-16-2009, 04:44 PM

I agree. I caught a 27lb fish the other day that I couldn't believe was 27lbs based on the length...it was very fat.

numbskull · 06-16-2009, 05:10 PM

What are these "fish" things of which you speak?

missing link · 06-16-2009, 05:47 PM

FISHTALES

WESTPORTMAFIA · 06-16-2009, 08:16 PM

It's the mercury

JohnnyD · 06-16-2009, 09:51 PM

I picked up a couple fish that were over 30lbs at only 36". Was amazed at the weight relative to size.

Saltheart · 06-17-2009, 12:07 PM

We used to always figure a 36 was 20 pounds. 36 and 30 lb is plump!

Tynan how could the guy miss by so much?

the weight goes way up per inch over 40 so that makes your fish more normal.

Happy to see fat fish though. Means there is plenty to eat around.It should also mean more fish as the young ones should find it easier to thrive with more available food.

tynan19 · 06-17-2009, 12:11 PM

He didn't seem in a great mood anyway. Vic's fish and mine were about the same length and his was 11 lbs heavier.

Jenn · 06-17-2009, 06:12 PM

oh no! not the weight vs. length conversation again! Lets dig up some old posts where "x length and x weight" were "impossible" and many a war were started because of it.
I'm in!

NO I AM ONLY JOKING

Slingah · 06-17-2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenn

oh no! not the weight vs. length conversation again! Lets dig up some old posts where "x length and x weight" were "impossible" and many a war were started because of it.
I'm in!

NO I AM ONLY JOKING

...if this were winter this thread would have been closed by now

Saltheart · 06-18-2009, 09:53 AM

As I covered in the first post , this shouldn't be a pissing contest cause these fish were weighed at official weigh in stations so there's no argument about the weight. Just an observation that fish this year appear to be heavier than some recent past years relative to weight vs length. IMO a high weight to length ratio means a healthy , well fed bunch of bass this year.

t.orlando · 06-18-2009, 10:38 AM

They must be on a seefood diet.

BassDawg · 06-19-2009, 05:32 AM

i've been landing FATTY'S for three years
at my biggest producer~~~mostly C&R,
so no weigh slips; but they have been from
34" - 49" and girths as high as 27", once or twice.

not that unusual from THE Other Cape's waters.
not to worry, i get racers outta there too

Saltheart · 06-22-2009, 10:47 AM

Unfortunately I've been seeing the fashion models , 45 inches and 26 pounds. It weird how big a difference can be found even in one night amongst the fish you catch. Variety is the spice of life!

JohnnyD · 06-22-2009, 12:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Unfortunately I've been seeing the fashion models , 45 inches and 26 pounds. It weird how big a difference can be found even in one night amongst the fish you catch. Variety is the spice of life!

Hmm... I've been seeing pretty consistent size/length ratios. The fish I caught that were 30lbs at 36" were on the boat of P-Town. The other night I picked up a 32" fish that went about 20lbs in the canal and a couple schoolies that were seriously fat as well.

RIROCKHOUND · 06-22-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

Hmm... I've been seeing pretty consistent size/length ratios. The fish I caught that were 30lbs at 36" were on the boat of P-Town. The other night I picked up a 32" fish that went about 20lbs in the canal and a couple schoolies that were seriously fat as well.

Tis is not a dig at all, but me thinks either your scale or ruler is off...
I have never seen a length/weight chart that had a max weight of 30lb for a fish shy of 40"...

maybe not, if you got the slips then DAMN those are fat fish...

Bronko · 06-22-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

Tis is not a dig at all, but me thinks either your scale or ruler is off...
I have never seen a length/weight chart that had a max weight of 30lb for a fish shy of 40"...

maybe not, if you got the slips then DAMN those are fat fish...

Yea, 30# at 36" would be a really wild looking fish. You have pics?

Saltheart · 06-22-2009, 01:25 PM

Ok , don't even think about turning this into a prove how big it was thread. post the pic to admire the FAT fish if you want but there is no need to prove how much it weighed.

Please start a new thread if you want to feud about it. I can delete that whole new thread more easily than deleting individual posts here!

HESH2 · 06-22-2009, 01:27 PM

all the fish being caught are fat and keeper size.i catch and release everything and don't mine fishermen keeping there catch to eat.but reading all the post including recent cape cod posts makes me wonder where are all the smaller fish.are we going to go into a striper crash with all the big fish being taken,remains to be seen.

fishbones · 06-22-2009, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyD

Hmm... I've been seeing pretty consistent size/length ratios. The fish I caught that were 30lbs at 36" were on the boat of P-Town. The other night I picked up a 32" fish that went about 20lbs in the canal and a couple schoolies that were seriously fat as well.

Johnny, the fish on the right in this pic is exactly 36" and went just under 20lbs. You can see it's definitely not a racer by any stretch. I'm not doubting you, but I'd love to see a picture of a 36" fish that went 30lbs.

JohnnyD · 06-22-2009, 01:46 PM

The 32" measurement and weight at the ditch is accurate. The 36" length is accurate (maybe a little short) but is a heft guess by myself and 2 other people. We caught a lot of fish that day so maybe the arms were tired and it was a bit less. Eh, but you guys probably know better than me.

In the end, it doesn't matter to me. I rarely carry a tape and almost never carry a scale. I'm not out to prove anything, thus why I don't post pictures or typically talk specifics about my catches aside from with close friends.

RIROCKHOUND · 06-23-2009, 07:43 AM

Not calling into question your integrity. Just pointing out that I have never seen a fish like that, OR seen it on any length weight charts. Science is full of outliers...