John R - defending my fish!!

[Jamie M]

To John and all on the board -

I swear the fish was exactly 36 pounds! The captain (Dan Wood, who is awesome) had a 60-pound boga-grip, and he was surprised at the weight, so I took out my Berkley digital scale, and it said exactly the same thing. After hearing all the doubts, I put 35 pounds of Olympic weights in a sack and weighed it, and the scale was dead on!

John, I'd like to e-mail you a photo and hear what you think. I'm at jamiefishing@aol.com, or can I put the photo here somehow?

#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&, if you bet your life that this fish wasn't 36 pounds, you lose! You catch more keepers in 1 season than I do in 10, but just because you haven't seen it doesn't NECESSARILY mean it doesn't exist.

[JohnR]

Jamie, <a href="mailto:john@striped-bass.com"> e-mail </a><!--url--> the picture and I'll put it up... To give you an idea, here is a 42# pound fish <img src="http://striped-bass.com/Images/timma.jpg" border="0">

[Plug]

Jamie,
I don't think anyone is calling you a liar. But do recognize that is one phenominal fish! There are those who have caught many 41" fish and have never seen one approach that size. The last fish about that length that I caught and weighed was between 40 and 41" and tipped the scales at 18#. Thats half of what yours weighed, but admittedly it was a skinny fish. However, you can understand the skeptisism. Most fish that I've caught at that length will be within a pound or two of 22.

Appreciate what you caught. It is very likely you'll not catch that heavy a fish in that short of a package ever again.

[Got Stripers]

As they say, seeing is believing. That's more than a football there son, that fish has obviously been one eating machine. Nice fish, I'll bet she found well, lol.

John -

Thanks. As soon as I get the photos, I'll send you one. Like I said in my original post, I am (unfortunately) NOT familiar at all with fish of that size, so I am certainly capable of making incorrect statements. And I have to say, the fish in your photo looks more than 6 pounds bigger than mine. Maybe the captain was a little short on the tape measure, but I swear it was 36 pounds! Is that you in the photo? That is one nice fish.

Hey Plug, thanks for the response. If I sounded overly defensive, I apologize. I didn't feel like anyone was calling me a liar, in fact, I appreciate the responses from you guys who know more about this stuff than I do. I was just surprised at how unusual it would be for a fish of that length to weigh 36 pounds. I hope my photo comes out half as good as the one John posted!

Tight lines to all.

[JohnR]

Jamie, I wish that was me... I believe that may still be the leading fish in the Mike T/CapeCodTackle.com season tournament (but that was a may fish) but I am sworn under penalty of death and dismemberment to give many details about her... How close was your fish to that???

John -

If that fish is 42 pounds, I can believe mine was 36. How long is the fish in the photo?

Also, a half-hour after I caught the 41-inch, 36-pounder, I caught another nice one. That fish was 38 inches and 18 pounds. I was amazed that a fish only 3 inches shorter could weigh only half as much, but the second fish had nowhere near the girth of the first one.

Should I e-mail the picture as a .jpg file? I just got a scanner at home, and I haven't used it yet.

[JohnR]

I believe that fish was 47 inches... Yeh, jpg is fine... Don't misunderstand, alot of us feel that a 41" fish weighing 36 pounds is extremely unlikely but we are not saying that you're lying. 28 pounds would be a pretty fat fish at 41 inches.... Did you get that on the night Marc took his spill??? If that's the case I'm thinkin' some alcohol was involved <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7-->... Friendly tweak <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7-->

Later...

John

John -

I did not catch this fish the day Marc went in the drink. I caught the fish on a charter trip out of Niantic, CT. Marc went into the drink from MY boat the week before.

Alcohol would explain why he took a spill, and also why my measurements seem off. And if you knew me, that would be a very good guess! But, there was none involved on either occasion, so I can't use that as an excuse.

I'll assume that all "tweaks" are friendly. I'm not going to say anything obnoxious to you, and you don't seem the type to launch an unwarranted attack. Unless I send you a picture of a 5-pound schoolie, in which case you can call me anything you want.

I should have the photos tonight.

[JohnR]

Yeh, my tweaks are friendly, all in good natured fun... Ok, send me that photo tonight and I'll put it up. It's fairly easy to post an image but that image does need to be linked to another web server. Much like when Got Stripers puts up his photos, he is linking them to the server his site resides on... On another note, by slight chance do you have a shot of Marc doing the "cat clinging" to the pier??? <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7--> I'm still laughing at that (of cousre knowing that he's OK)...

John -

It is with great regret that I do not have any footage of Marc clinging to that pole, nor of him falling into the water. I still find myself sitting at my desk at work, that image will pop into my head, and I start laughing out load to myself. I'd give anything to have a video of that.

But don't let lack of footage prevent you from giving Marc a hard time about it. Like you said, since he wasn't hurt, it's fair game. God, that was funny.

[Marc Z]

Well although I cannot defend Jamie on this fish because I was not present (and I shouldn't anyway after that post telling everyone how I fell off the dock), I have to vouch for his integrity when it comes to fishing and as a person. He is a guy who loves to fish and is a very modest person, especially when it comes to fishing. He always tells the truth with regards to sizes of fish and amounts caught and where caught, in fact most of the time he underestimates just to keep honest. He's not one to hide behind a computer and isn't stupid enough to have thought he would get away with lying about a size of a fish to a bunch of experienced fisherman like you guys here. He certainly would know the consequenses. He says he weighed it with 2 different scales and was in the company of a VERY reputable fisherman when he caught it. Plus he is going to post the picture here on this board for proof.
So lets give him his due, just as you guys would want it, and let him soak up the excitement of catching his biggest striper ever.

John,
No alcahol was involved when I fell in, and thank god no pictures!

MZ

[JohnR]

I still wish there were pictures of the "other" event <img src="/Images/Tounge_Wink_Face.gif"><!--e5-->... I'm still laughing too. I don't doubt Jamie's integrity, just want to se the picture... <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7-->

[JohnR]

OK, here is the image of Jamie's fish...

<img src="http://208.41.94.251/Images/jamie-basmall.jpg" border="0">

Man, that is a real nice fish Jamie. id on't know though, 36 lbs.? It defintiley appears to be in the high twenties, poosibly low thirties. I am not questioning Jamie tho, maybe this fish was just abnormally heavy. Way to go man, keep it up.

Actually, now that look at it closer, it could very well be 36 lbs. It seems faily fat but also apperars to be very thick. Maybe this is possible, what do you think #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&? Once again Jamie, nice job.

[Got Stripers]

That's as least as heavy as the 30lber I got a few weeks back, but your fish does look at lot thicker. I'd say it's definately 30 <img src="http://www.rgsiroisco.com/striper-1.jpg" border="0">and not a stretch to go 36 lbs. Either way you look at it it's a nice fish.

Ha! Some vindication! John, can I get an opinion from you?

How do you scoffers like to eat your crow!

I'd like to thank Marc Z (who has no reason to stick up for me after dropping him in the drink) and Fisherwoman (who I've never exchanged an e-mail with) for their support!

This fish has changed my life, like a religious experience. I've had an ear-to-ear grin glued to my face since I saw that cow in the water. My girlfriend wants to know why I'm never that happy with her. She also wants to know why my condo is such a mess, but any doctor would be comfortable operating on the spotless deck of my boat.

Too many damn weddings this fall! I want another!

Nice fish Jamie, It certainly looks thick but since even the captain was surprised by it's weight is it possible she swallowed some stones to aid digestion? or could be just a fat cow bass. Anyway congrats. It will be interesting to see what the great one has to say about it. The way he talks it's like he went straight from diapers to catching 30-40#'s. No learning curve, must be a natural.

[JohnR]

I'd be lying to you if I said I thought that was 36 pounds but it does look at least 30, and it is nice and sweetly fat... I am trying to be conservative on weight lately as I have startled myself by overestimating fish by a few pounds... My scale sucks and comes in 10-20% less than certified scales (anyone try those cheap digital Berklees?? I'm thinking of giving one a shot) so alot is guess work for me... Sweet fish Jamie!!! You think your girlfriend is upset with you now <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7-->... Your apartment may be a mess but you better make sure the couch is clean <img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7-->...

[Jamie M]

John -

I have a cheap Berkley scale. That scale showed my fish at 36.0 pounds. When I saw haw unlikely you guys told me that was, I put 35 pounds of Olympic weights in a potato sack and put that on the scale. It registered 35.3 pounds. The scale seems to work OK, I reccommend it.

[Marc Z]

Nice fish Jamie!

Now tell them all the truth that Courtney (Jamie's girl) actually was the one who caught it and let you take a picture with it.

It is tough to tell, but looks fatter than Got Stripers' fish which he said was 30.

Now if you want to start another debate, let these guys know you dropped her back in the water after this photo.

Notice the red tail.

Congrats again

MZ

[eelman]

Picture is nice!! But, that picture shows what I thought,28 lbs or so,absolutly no way is that fish 36lbs it is however a nice lookin bass!!