pounds and inches.

[Tagger]

Most people report fish caught in inches.. I think because just about everyone carries a measuring tape with them. I've never seen any one whip out a heavy brass scale they been hauling with them and weigh a fish . To give an accurate weight you must keep the fish bring it in and get it weighed.. Or if you have fished for some time ,(years) kept and weighed a bunch of fish ,you have some refference to guess the weight . I really don't care how fish are reported pounds or inches, I get the picture . Some people take great offense.. I don't know why . You know a newbe is going to measure and give report in inches.. Must suc everyone yelling "pounds" at you .

[tattoobob]

I always have a Manly scale and a tape with me, take a pic and send it back to grow to a 50

[Mike P]

I added this as my sig on another site I do pounds. I don't mind people who report bass in inches, but bluefish? What's next, people reporting 20" tautog?

[luds]

I like to know the weight in pounds but usually report in inches because I only carry a measuring tape.

I find it annoying when someone gets huffy because a fish's size is reported in inches. I'm also not all that fond of weighing and releasing on larger fish. I'm not stating this as fact but I don't think it can be very good for a fish over 30#'s to dangle from a boga grip considering they spend most of their life horizontal.

[capesams]

with fish being on the skinny side these days....a 40" fish sounds better then a 17lber.or racer as us old farts call them.I've caught 36" fish as low as 11 lb's...sad indeed.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by capesams

with fish being on the skinny side these days....a 40" fish sounds better then a 17lber.or racer as us old farts call them.I've caught 36" fish as low as 11 lb's...sad indeed.

I think that's a big part of it. If people don't press the issue, that 36" fish would be assumed to be 36# if a guy just says, "I got a 36".

Actual conversation I had on the Canal this summer:

"Hi xxxx, you guys do anything?"

"I got some shorts, but xxx got two nice fish".

"Really? How big?"

"Oh, 31, 32"

Stop the conversation right here, and who wouldn't believe the guy was talking pounds?

"He got a 32 pounder?"

"No, no, 32 inches".

That was the day I started asking when a 32" bass became a "nice fish".

[Karl F]

It's def. an age thing.. I cant' get over it, no matter how hard I try.. I hear the same thing Mike..
some guy will come in the shop and say,
"I got a 32 last night"..
I assume pounds right off..
the younger fellow (early 30's) that works part time with me, who is a serious fisherman,
he assumes inches..
Another "generational" issue...

[tattoobob]

Originally Posted by Karl F

It's def. an age thing.. I cant' get over it, no matter how hard I try.. I hear the same thing Mike..
some guy will come in the shop and say,
"I got a 32 last night"..
I assume pounds right off..
the younger fellow (early 30's) that works part time with me, who is a serious fisherman,
he assumes inches..
Another "generational" issue...

That's why I will always ask "are we talking pounds or inches" that thats the mystery away

[nightfighter]

I still think a 32" fish is a nice fish for table fare...... but not when trophy hunting. Some schoolies I've caught this year had more game during the fight than most mid twenty pound fish, so seeing those testosterone loaded schoolies swim away makes me think, nice fish, nice fight.
And wouldn't inches be a better measurement to gauge the age of a fish? While a fifty inch fish would definitely get my attention, a fifty pounder would be a lifetime accomplishment, which is why the weight measurement gets a lot of attention when it comes to records, I think, for what that's worth..... Worth noting is if you fish surf or boat on this subject too. I'm 90% surf.
Funny, can you imagine if we were debating inches vs. weight in 'measuring' up our female companions?????? If those numbers are right, I could care less about the weight!

[nightfighter]

good to know I'm not an old fart yet.....

[vanstaal]

see fish laws (man laws)

[nightfighter]

Majority of my fish aren't worthy of getting weighed. Length is good by me, at least until the state changes regs to pounds.... That said, I see more racers, but have enough to know a 30#, and be pretty good to guessimate if a fish is a forty. Just don't have enough slobs compared to the racers the past few years. Would rather keep a 30 inch fish for the table anyway.

[numbskull]

I usually carry a scale (chatillion 50 calibrated). It weighs a lot and I rarely use it, but I can't see killing a fish (nevermind carrying it out) just to weigh it, and I don't catch enough fish over 30lbs to accurately judge their weight at night.

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by vanstaal

see fish laws (man laws)

Damm ... missed that .. was that made "man law" ? nightfighter makes a good point.. State regs are inches .. Capesams makes a good point for pounds and inches so we have a better idea whats going on (starving) with the fish . Competing for food with seals..

[striprman]

I looked at my record book and here are some weights and sizes of fishes I have caught over the years
29": 8.5
30": 9.1, 9.2
33": 11.5
34": 11, 11.1, 12, 12.3, 12.5, 13.5
34 1/2": 13.75
35": 12.5, 13, 13.25, 13.4, 14.5, 15, 16.5
35 1/2": 13, 14.5
36": 15.0, 15.75, 16, 16.25, 16.5
37": 16.5, 17.25, 20.5
38": 18, 21, 22
39": 24.3
40": 19.2, 21, 23, 24.3
40 1/2": 23, 24.3, 24.6
41": 23
41 1/2": 24.3
43 3/4": 26
44": 30.4, 32.6
47": 37 (my biggest to date)

All these weights come from a few of the canal fish I've taken home for supper over the years.

Truly large fish have always "alluded" me (got away) on the rocky ledges and drop offs in the canal. Someday I'll get one of those huge ones that I've hooked many times, stripped my reel and make me cry and babble to myself

Hope someone finds this useful.

[Backbeach Jake]

Geeze, Tagger, I have one or two of those heavy brass scales. Nut nothin' to hang it on....I guess my poundage by length and size of gut. I get within 10-12 pounds everytime.

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by striprman

I looked at my record book and here are some weights and sizes of fishes I have caught over the years
29": 8.5
30": 9.1, 9.2
33": 11.5
34": 11, 11.1, 12, 12.3, 12.5, 13.5
34 1/2": 13.75
35": 12.5, 13, 13.25, 13.4, 14.5, 15, 16.5
35 1/2": 13, 14.5
36": 15.0, 15.75, 16, 16.25, 16.5
37": 16.5, 17.25, 20.5
38": 18, 21, 22
39": 24.3
40": 19.2, 21, 23, 24.3
40 1/2": 23, 24.3, 24.6
41": 23
41 1/2": 24.3
43 3/4": 26
44": 30.4, 32.6
47": 37 (my biggest to date)

All these weights come from a few of the canal fish I've taken home for supper over the years.

Truly large fish have always "alluded" me (got away) on the rocky ledges and drop offs in the canal. Someday I'll get one of those huge ones that I've hooked many times, stripped my reel and make me cry and babble to myself

Hope someone finds this useful.

Looks like highly accurate data, SM. I'll add you to the list of credible sources I know. Anyone who knows me will get the joke. I do like accurate documentation of fish sizes, almost to a fault. Its derived from the way I learned to fish. Everything was measured, weighed and documented due to the fact that I grew up selling everything I caught and could tell you within an ounce how much each fish weighed without using a scale after a while. Pounds is the true measure of size.There are weight and length variations, obviously, but the above length and weight info is dead on IMO.

[Clogston29]

I simply don't keep and weigh enough fish to be able to tell, to within a pound, how heavy a fish is. So I usually report fish in inches to avoid over estimating the size. Just seams easier and it works for me. If I had been fishing longer and during the commercial days pounds would be what was engrained in my head. I really think its just a generation thing.

[baldwin]

Measuring in inches doesn't do the harm that hanging it by its jaw will do. Fish aren't made to support their weight by the jaw, it harms their gills. Research shows that it kills large fish. If people think it's more manly to describe their fish in pounds, I think they're selfish to risk killing those fish. I fish for sport, not to substitute for gonads. A nice bass is too valuable to be caught only once. Even releasing a nice fish without measuring it doesn't lower your testosterone production.

[numbskull]

Originally Posted by baldwin

Measuring in inches doesn't do the harm that hanging it by its jaw will do. Fish aren't made to support their weight by the jaw, it harms their gills. Research shows that it kills large fish.

Do you have a link for this? I've seen it eluded to but have never seen the original source. I don't weigh that many fish, but I often lift big fish into a boat with a lip gaff and frequently hang medium fish by the lip while I unhook them standing on a rock. Thanks.

[Pete_G]

Originally Posted by numbskull

Do you have a link for this? I've seen it eluded to but have never seen the original source. I don't weigh that many fish, but I often lift big fish into a boat with a lip gaff and frequently hang medium fish by the lip while I unhook them standing on a rock. Thanks.

I think MakoMike wrote an article on this. Can't remember what magazine though.

[big jay]

I like people reporting in inches rather than pounds b/c I think it removes some of the Bull Sh*t factor. I'm kind of tired of seeing pics of fish with inflated weights and then the stupid debate that ensues. It takes a real ass to lie when they see the tape measure, a little less to make a generous estimate. Unless its a really good fish, that warrants the scale, inches is fine.

This kind of goes against my own point, but I think the scale dissappoints people too. I work charters for my dad on weekends, and I've seen more people with nice fish (40+ inches) get really dissappointed when they get the real weight. I had one guy in particular this summer, nice guy, owns a boat but doesn't catch much, take his family out. Kids all got their first keepers, and at the end of the day he hooks up with a ripper (way down into the backing on the first fun). Gaff the fish, he's estatic - 43" fish. Kids are jumping around and he even emails the pic to the guys in his office. Then the question comes, "hey Jay, do you guys have a scale?" Fish was a bit of a racer, so I know whats coming. 26lbs on the scale, and the poor guy is so dissappointed - felt like I ruined his triumphant moment. Had to explain to him just how much b.s. there is with alot of "40lb" fish you see in fishing mags. Net result, he shook it off, and it was a great day, but I wish he only knew he caught a 43" bass.

[Swimmer]

This posting reminds me of the ad that was recently on TV. Guys getting our of a Cadilac at the golf course asks one of the other guys getting out of the Cadi, "Hey how did you do yesterday?. Reply, "oh I shot about a 70! He got called on that. In front of everyone in the area, the guy who said he shot about a 70 was asked how you shoot in golf about a 70. Either or but not about a 70.

One thing about fishing is that we are allowed to offer that conjecture and it is accepted. Most of us though when we hear someone say he caught a 43" fish yesterday automatically deduct at least five inches off that 43" answer and we tell everyone that so ad so caught a 38" fish. And some of us more cynical people here would probably ay the 43" fish was probably barely a keeper.

[Saltheart]

A tape measure is easiest to carry and needs no maintainence. I do carry a scale , have always but seldom feel a need to use it anymore. Maybe for a tourney fish but not for my own ego anymore as I once did.

I've seen grown men with thousands of fish in their carreers argue with teenagers who just caught their first bigger fish about whether it was as big as the teenager said. To them I say get a life.


Its your fish , weigh it , measure it or just let it go. I don't care.