pounds and inches.

[shadow]

Originally Posted by capesams

bloo...I'll agree that a fish in the hand will always be a nice fish reguardless of it's size....But what is happening more and more these day's is the fact that history is being changed day by day...what once was alway's lb's is slowly going over to inches,why?.Plug shapes that always were called XX are being called something intirely different why?I havn't seen grass-trees-water getting a name change, why not?....If one doesn't correct a new person to the name game,,how are they going to learn what is and has always been??...I don't go to the lumberyard looking for scratch paper?[sandpaper]...does history mean nothing to the younger folks? who knows,,someday fish may be called scalers wtfit?

you hit it on the head with this statement as a "younger" angler bruoght into the game by older anglers I feel a need to keep some things the way they are RESPECT THE PAST learn from those who came before us. that being said I always carry a scale and only weigh afew fish that may be hard to guess their wieght.if its not #'s then it is a schoolie and a schoolie is a schoolie.

[baldwin]

I can't find a link to the study, but I think it was originally done by a couple of Australians. Just a knowledge of fish biology (I teach it), leads me to believe that their study has merit. Fish are adapted to a neutral-buoyancy habitat, and their bodys aren't designed to support a large amount of weight from their jaws. I think the study was done with snook, but the same could also apply to any larger fish.