What's Large????

[Slingah]

off shoot of the other thread....let's here what is a LARGE, BIG or rewarding catch to you....
I'll take 25lb stripers all day and I consider them to be decent and think 30# is a good benchmark to be called a BIG fish...

[Rockport24]

yeah, 25# would be a good benchmark for a "big fish" but a 20 pounder for me is an exciting catch and is the benchmark for what I consider a "nice fish", a keeper to teen size bass would be called a "good fish" and anything under keeper size is considered a "just a fish, but still fun"

[keeperreaper]

A decent fish is 25-40 and large is 40+ pounds

[spence]

It's all relative to what you're used to.

To a novice, a 15 pound fish is pretty huge.

If a 25 pound fish is a personal best then that's going to be a large fish.

If you're experienced, target and actually catch 20+ fish then your perception might be different.

-spence

[Slingah]

I'd love to hear from some guys who I know land LARGE regularly..
PM,TO, SD, BB, RL, C10, ......

[EarnedStripes44]

Now for the wild card. While one can no doubt catch large fish from the shore, a boat opens up an entire new realm of accessibility, also changing perception.

[Clogston29]

what's a "large", "dink", "keeper-size", "good" etc. etc. etc. fish depends on the type of fishing and the expectations of the fisherman and is subjective. there's no right or wrong answer and its silly to even spend time debating IMO.

its way easier to just talk in numbers, anyway. why say "we were into good fish last night" when you can say "we were into mid 20 pound class fish last night" for example.

[eastendlu]

One mans large is another mans bait.Its all in ones perspective i just like to fish and if i'm lucky it will be large enough for me.

[Blitzseeker]

At least within the group of guys I fish with, any fish bigger than about 40 inches/20 pounds is a very nice fish we'd be real happy with. Anyone seeing a fish of that size or better would clearly be saying "nice fish", "great catch", etc.

Below that its just keeper or schoolie.

I fish only from shore except for a charter or two here and there, in the boats I'm sure people would be going a notch up from that.

[Diggin Jiggin]

Any day I break 20# is a 'good' day as I had atleast 1 'good' fish.

But there's a world of difference between catching a 38-40" 20# and a 42-43" 28 or 29# fish.

It depends on what you are used to seeing come out of the water. Anything 25+ gets me pretty excited.

44-45" seems to be the mark I'm looking for, that's when they start to look big to me, I think thats usually a low 30# fish.

[steve]

30 pounds has always been the benchmark.

[numbskull]

It depends on the method used. Subtract 10 lbs if you used bait and another 10 if you used a boat and it works out about right.

[steve]

A 30 pound strip4er is a good fish no matter what method one uses, ie surf, boat, bait, artificial etc..

[spence]

Originally Posted by EarnedStripes44

Now for the wild card. While one can no doubt catch large fish from the shore, a boat opens up an entire new realm of accessibility, also changing perception.

Yes, the wild card that boat fish don't count.



-spence

[Slingah]

I agree...it is what you decide to be large, that is what I said ...so what is it???

[tattoobob]

Originally Posted by Slingah

off shoot of the other thread....let's here what is a LARGE, BIG or rewarding catch to you.....

Anything over 30 pounds is a large fish for me,

I am just happy fishing and being on the ocean, catching fish is a plus,

[Rockport24]

Originally Posted by tattoobob

I am just happy fishing and being on the ocean, catching fish is a plus,

so damn true, it's just the icing on the cake!

[Slingah]

okay I am changing my tune .... I have got fish to 45lbs and thought this over while reading all your postings...
a 25lb fish is a decent fish....but 30+ is Large....

[doktorfaustus77]

Biggest fish I ever caught was 25lbs on a salt shaker shad. It was and still is huge to me. I quite pleased with anything over 32" inches with my light tackle. I agree with some of the other posts,its subjective. I don't get into really big fish often

[BassDawg]

while i completely respect everyone's opinions

and find these interpretations MOST interesting,

it seems to me that a BENCHMARK, by definition, is
a benchmark that IS NOT subject to change. we use them daily
when we plumb the columns of our structural buildings and if we allowed
for fluctuations from one benchmark to the other, one surveyor/angler to the other,
then ALL the buildings in Boston would resemble the Leaning Tower of Pisa .................

a STANDARD is a standard for ALL to aspire to;
regardless of whether or not you've ever hit that MARK, and
defined by the same definition that the people for generations
have considered to be LAHHHGE from then to today.

in other words, while it may "feel" subjective until you reach said BM, once you "get there" don't most people aspire for something more and BIGGER??? likewise, by having a uniform weight we can ALL be measured by the same BM and not by what your best friend or yer Momma says to enable your relative mediocrity..................

i don't think that Today's surfcasting legends were sticking
40#'ers out of the womb ~~*though sum have suggested that Mr Nolan was born part Striper, that's how he knows the way they think*~~ so at some point they also had to aspire to the lofty weights, at that particular time of their individual angling developement, of 30#'s and up. for example Newbie, Hungry, Sharpie. the point being, they started somewhere and through due diligence and many moonlit haunts they've angled themsleves into the Striper Coast's Legends that they've become by fishing hard and not settling for 20# to 25# as LAHHHGE. still a dink at that weight, if ya ask me.

AND, just because large and up is a regular weight for them that doesn't change the standard it just means that their levels of expertise have them landing more trophies/monstahs than the rest of us schlubs that don't have the experience and know-how that they do................still the standard remains the same ~~30#'s and up is LAHHHGE, imho.

my own scale goes a li'l sumthin' like this:
0" - 28" ;;;; schoolie
28" - 30#;;; rats to big bass
30# - 40#;; LAHHHHGE
40# - 50#;; SLOB
50# - 60#;; TROPHY
60# - 70#;; COW
70# - 80#;; IGFA World Record
80# - 90#;; MONSTAHH
90# - 100#; FISH OF A LIFETIME

those are the goals for me, so far so good,
and i LOVE the challenge and the mindset that
is required to not settle, and TO go for sum Big Gurls.

[Mr. Krinkle]

anything over 30 is "large" to me.

[Adam_777]

This thread is funny.A large fish is just that.....It has to be big,fat and long.I guess the bottom line is you can't say you got a large one today without being worried that someone will say it isn't large.It was nice.It was big but...wasn't large.

[RIJIMMY]

to me, its about the hit and the fight. I remember how a fish wacked the eel, bunker, plug, etc and how much it fought. Some of my most memorbale fish were ones I did not land or even hook. I've had days where schoolies are knocking plugs out of the water and hitting with reckless abandon, thats more fun to me than a large fish that doesnt even fight. If I had to put a rating out there, I'd agree with Zacs.

[fishaholic18]

Originally Posted by Slingah

off shoot of the other thread....let's here what is a LARGE, BIG or rewarding catch to you....
I'll take 25lb stripers all day and I consider them to be large and think 25# is a good benchmark to be called a BIG fish...

Large is 35# +++

[ProfessorM]

35+ by land and 40+ by sea is large in my book, but it is in the eye of the beholder IMO. I just classify them all as decent.

[hyefisherman2]

any fish above the 20lb mark is a large fish for me wether it be canal or surf.

[jim sylvester]

it depends on the angler

for #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, mckennan and captain white.....a 25 lb fish is an average fish, more or less a schoolie...because these people have caught LARGE, which to them would be 40 + lbs

to a person who is fishing for the first year....a 25 lb fish would be a fish of a lifetime

to me.......a 35+ lb fish is large

whether it be surf caught or from the boat

[Saltheart]

30 pound fish always seem big to me. In the canal , a 30 pounder can give you a good pull if the current is at full tilt.

[Nebe]

5- 10 lbs- "schoolies"

10 - 20 lbs- "school bass"

20 - 30 lbs- "decent fish"

30- 40 lbs- "large"

40-50 lbs- "trophy fish"

50+.. fish of a lifetime.

[The Dad Fisherman]

What Species of fish?

a 6 lb. Smallmouth is a slob
a 10 lb. Largemouth is a slob
a 20 lb. Bluefish is a slob
a 40 lb. Striper is a slob
a 100 lb. Tuna is a slob
a 225 lb Anglah is a Slob (at least thats what my wife says)