What Is Your Average Sized Fish?

[MassBass]

Tode lbers

[BammerBass]

I usually find I'm catching most of my fish in the 15 to 18 inch size. I'll catch some that can be 15" that weigh 4lbs and a 22" that weigh s the same... so far this year I'm stuck with a 7+ lbs for the biggest.

I wish I could say "im stuck with a 7+ lbs for the biggest"..........

[BammerBass]

Thornback, I too find it surprising that fish your buddy caught, weighed only 2.12 lbs, just looking at it one would think k it was at least another lb bigger. But then again I suppose things aren't always what they seem. This bass of mine was around 16-16.5" and me and a lot of others thought it would be around 2.3-2.5 if I wanted to take the high estimation but my scale weighed it as only 1 lb 4 oz.

[RSM789]

Fish tend to run thin in the water I fish but after weighing 211 bass 15" in length the average weight is only 1.48 pounds....

I believe you are spot on. I think what happens is after catching a certain number of bass, the tendency is to stop measuring or weighing them because we believe we know just by looking.

After this thread came out, I started to test my estimates against reality. I kept a bump board & scale near the front of the boat and would guess length & weight of a majority of the bass I caught. Not just the big ones, the average ones as well. My length estimates were close, but the weight was typically lower than expected. Most 12" fish have to have a little pooch to weigh a pound and a solid 2 lb fish is normally about 16" long.

Unless you are like Tom and literally forgoing numbers in order to fish for size (and having the goose eggs to prove it), I would suggest the true average for most people is closer to 12" & a pound.

[corn-on-the-rob]

Thornback, I too find it surprising that fish your buddy caught, weighed only 2.12 lbs, just looking at it one would think k it was at least another lb bigger. But then again I suppose things aren't always what they seem. This bass of mine was around 16-16.5" and me and a lot of others thought it would be around 2.3-2.5 if I wanted to take the high estimation but my scale weighed it as only 1 lb 4 oz.

hmm. Im gonna have to say the scale didn't quite get that one right. I have caught a bunch of skinny (almost sickly looking) barely 12 inchers that go very close to a pound (14 to 15 oz) and that fish is well beyond that length and looks to be of average girth (healthy). It has to be over 2lbs with out a doubt and is likely around your initial guess.

[ChrisWi]

Average largemouth - 2 to 3 pounds, Smallmouth - 1 to 3.5

[RoLo]

I would say between 5 & 11

We're talking about INCHES, right?

[RB 77]

Average bass (both Green & Brown is probably a pound maybe a pound and a half. 

 

For all you studs with a 3 pound average, you're missing you're calling.

 

 

 

No kidding! I live THE county that has produced 11 of the 25 largest bass ever recorded. This is by far more than any other county going away. Almost half the list! A 3 pound average is insane. Don't get it twisted, most tournaments take 20-25+ pounds to win, but we are talking tourney time in the trophy hunting capital of the world. If you guys are truly averages 3 pounds per fish, quit your day job immediatley and join the Elite Series tour or the FLW tour right away!

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

its catches like this that skew my avg

 

[TyTheAngler]

My average is also 2-3 pound range

[HoosierHawgs]

Simple answer: Bigger Than Yours!

I'm kidding, I'm guessing its not... But all serious I would say our average is 3-4#. Big fish are greater than 5#, biggest fish this year was 7#, that was my Dad's fish. My biggest fish was 6#.

[cyclops2]

Lately all have been small.  After the can opener let them out. 

[SirSnookalot]

I'm in Florida and fish for bass year round, sure I've caught some big ones but caught 100 times more small ones.  No way I average 3-4# a bass, more like 10-12" on average.  Since I don't carry a scale maybe my 12 inch ones do weigh 3lbs......lol.

[Goose52]

Happy New Year to all !   I did my end-of-year number crunching yesterday afternoon.  My AVERAGE LMB for the 2014 season, from a total of 1559 bass, was 10.90".  For the last 5 seasons, totaling 6828 bass, the average length was 11.35373352855051".  I fish small neighborhood lakes, not known for being very fertile, and we do have a lot of skinny fish so I know my numbers will be smaller than most.  

 

HOWEVER, for most of the people on this thread - you obviously must be fishing close to nuclear power plants with leaking cooling systems because your "average" fish are incredibly large mutants and the entire growth cycle/survival rate of bass has been altered to produce "average" fish of varying weights from 3 to 6 pounds. Hope you wear a radiation suit while you're fishing..

 

Perhaps what people are thinking of is not a mathematical "average" fish (where short fish can really pull down your average length) but they are thinking of what is their most "common" size fish.  In that case, these folks could create a bar chart that would show a bell curve with the top of the curve residing in the 18 to 22 inch range (which would be just incredible)...instead of a bar chart as shown below.  

 

 

 

OR...are most of the folks on this thread guessing, because they don't have the records necessary to actually calculate an average, or even determine the most "common" size fish?  OR...is everyone using the "new math"?  OR, does everyone actually have an average fish of 3 or more pounds in which case you have an absolutely incredible fishery.

 

And tournament anglers - this thread will have KVD shaking in his boots.  The topic was average fish and you state your winning bags, So, you went out and caught 5 bass, that weighed a total of 20-25 pounds, so your average fish was 4 to 5 pounds. You never culled a fish right?  Otherwise, your "average" fish would be smaller now wouldn't it...

 

It's been an interesting thread...

[Catch and Grease]

Another great post by goose ^ nice info thanks for sharing!

That's inspired me lol maybe this year I'll keep a better record of my catches and find out my true average size fish... I'm started to think my average isn't really 2 lb like I originally stated.

[cyclops2]

Lots of people average the BIGGIES.

 

VHS disease is wiping out small fish as the BIG bass die slower on stored body fat.  So last year was a FANTASTIC  big .....small & largemouth year.  Hell there only are LONG STARVING big fish left.  But the total fish caught was that of a dead fishery.

[Wayne P.]

I don't catch enough 8# + size bass to get my average much over 1#.

 

2014 total count is 2,122 bass.

Previous 5 years total is 12,492 bass. 

[Mainebass1984]

I know it sounds exaggerated and outlandish but the average largemouth I catch in the wonderful state of Maine is 3 pounds or more. I have fished these lakes for a long time and only fish the lakes that have the largest populations of big bass. I spend all of my time fishing for big bass on the some of the best big bass lakes in the state. I weigh my fish regularly and make a point to weigh every single bass I catch that is near or above 3 lbs. I take a lot of pictures of the bigger fish. I keep detailed records of every day I spend on the water. The past couple years I have spent most of my time fishing a particular lake. On an average day the biggest 5 bass weigh around 22 lbs. I know it sounds exaggerated but that is not the case.  I am sure there will be a few people who would assume that I am full of it.  Come on out to Maine and I will show you.