Bass Length

[BooyahMan]

This might be a strange question but here goes. Don't know if length is a popular measurement with weight being somewhat variable between two fish of the same length due to girth, but was just wondering what everyone's definition of a decent length for Largies is and what your cut-off point would be for a trophy sized Largemouth in your local waters. On most occasions I only have time to get a length measurement and thus my infatuation with length haha. 

 

I guess I'll start. With my limited bass experience on my local lake my "decent' bass length is between 12 and 16 inches, and anything over 16 would be a monster (at least to me). So what length makes you go, "that's a good bass" and what makes you go, "THERE'S A MONSTER!"?

[Bluebasser86]

A lot of our lakes have an 18" length limit, so that's kind of my mark for a good quality fish, anything over 20" is a great fish. 

[SirSnookalot]

I don't carry a scale but I I have 2 marks on my rods, 20" and 25".  20-25" is a nice fish, over 25" gets my attention.  

[OntarioFishingGuy]

18'' or so defines 'big' for me. A fat 16 incher or a skinny 20 incher are also big. Girth is what really matters.

[Catch and Grease]

20" inches is a big ole bass!

[Mainebass1984]

A good bass is between 20-22 inches.

 

A big bass anything over 22 inches.

[fishballer06]

Around here, a good bass is 17-19".

 

A big bass is 20"+

[Fishes in trees]

In Missouri, with a few exceptions a "keeper" has to be 15".  In my vocabulary, keepers are over 15".

A good fish is over 18".  A big fish is over 20".  Monster fish do a remarkably good job at staying away from my lures.  I guess a monster fish would start at two feet or so,  I haven't seen one of those for a long time.

[WRB]

How do you measure length?

The IGFA method, the fishery biologist method, the bass fishing tournament method all vary.

Lots of anglers measure the bass by holding head up, open mouth from tip of lower jaw to tip of tail lob, maximum length measurement and the method used for George Perry bass.

IGFA can vary depending on bass tail shape or condition; mouth closed laying on a flat surface from tip of closed lower lip to center of tail end.

Bass tournament method is mouth closed on a metal or plastic rule with 90 degree bent end to put the basses closed mouth against and measure from tip of lower jaw to longest point on the tail.

Fishery biologist measure the bass laying flat, mouth closed from tip of lower jaw to the base of the tail, excluding the tail.

Lots of ways to measure a bass that vary.

The average bass girth is 75% of the length measured the IGFA method.

The formula: length X length X girth divided by 1200 = weight in pounds is a good ball park to determine estimated weight of measure bass! IGFA method.

20" bass with 15" girth (75%) = 5 lbs.

Tom

[senile1]

A healthy 18 inch bass will be in the 3 lb range and that is a good fish here.  Twenty inches or so, again on a healthy fish, will be around 4 - 5 lbs.  After passing the 22 inch mark or so, the fish exceed 7 lbs if sporting a healthy girth.  As for a monster fish, that depends on your definition.  I consider 7 lbs and up as fairly rare in northwest Missouri (typically 22 - 23 inches) but probably a true monster would be 9 and up.  A 9 lb fish is very, very rare here.

[A-Jay]

A healthy 18 inch bass will be in the 3 lb range and that is a good fish here.  Twenty inches or so, again on a healthy fish, will be around 4 - 5 lbs.  After passing the 22 inch mark or so, the fish exceed 7 lbs if sporting a healthy girth.  As for a monster fish, that depends on your definition.  I consider 7 lbs and up as fairly rare in northwest Missouri (typically 22 - 23 inches) but probably a true monster would be 9 and up.  A 9 lb fish is very, very rare here.

 

Yup ~

 

This is my personal mantra for lmb as well.

 

For Brownies, I subtract an inch - thought they almost always Fight a whole lot better.

 

A-Jay

 

A-Jay

[senile1]

Good point, A.J.  I should have clarified that I was speaking of largemouth lengths.

[Fisher-O-men]

With deals like these there is no reason not to have a scale in your pocket. I just bought two more to give as gifts to my lying fisherman friends!   Great scales!  Super easy to use and very accurate!

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/20g-40Kg-Pocket-Digital-Scale-Electronic-Hanging-Luggage-Balance-Weight-/171155983110?pt=US_Pocket_Digital_Scales&hash=item27d9b10b06

[everythingthatswims]

Where I fish, a 16"-18" largemouth  is a good fish, and fish over 20" are "big" for me. 22" and up is a trophy to me, although I have landed a 22"er that was far from trophy, I'm not even sure she weighed over 4lbs, one heck of an ugly fish! And for smallies I subtract 2"...an 18" smallie will whoop a 20" largemouth's butt!

[tatertester]

20 inches trips my trigger for both large and smallmouth, usually gets at or near that 5 lb benchmark.

[Team9nine]

As far as I'm concerned, any bass that is a "keeper" (over 14" on most waters around here) is a 'decent' fish. For my area, I also consider 4 pound bass to be a very nice (above average) fish, and that usually happens just at or over the 19" mark. A "big" bass for here would be 5 pounds or better, and that is usually around 20.5"

 

-T9

[BooyahMan]

Very interesting responses guys! Sounds like I need to up my standards. 

[Lund Explorer]

This might be a strange question but here goes. Don't know if length is a popular measurement with weight being somewhat variable between two fish of the same length due to girth, but was just wondering what everyone's definition of a decent length for Largies is and what your cut-off point would be for a trophy sized Largemouth in your local waters. On most occasions I only have time to get a length measurement and thus my infatuation with length haha. 

 

I guess I'll start. With my limited bass experience on my local lake my "decent' bass length is between 12 and 16 inches, and anything over 16 would be a monster (at least to me). So what length makes you go, "that's a good bass" and what makes you go, "THERE'S A MONSTER!"?

 

I have reverted to using length only for measuring all of the bass I catch.  As the only one I am competing against is myself, I find that this is a good method to determine how well I did on any given day.  I use a 22" tournament style metal bump board and measure all fish with the mouth closed and the tail fanned.  All fish are measured in round inches so that even a fish measuring 14 3/4" still scores in my book as an 14" bass.  At the end of the day, I want to score my five best "keepers".

 

Scoring as follows:

 

5 x 14" = 70"  Better than nothing

 

5 x 16" = 80"  Decent

 

5 x 18" = 90"  Good - Primary goal on my best water.

 

5 x 20" = 100"  WOW!  Now we're talking.