Bad Estimates of Bass Weight

[OCdockskipper]

I have mentioned in the past that we have a Koi pond that in addition to 5 Koi, has been the home to a largemouth bass for about 6 years.  He was 12" long and about a pound in weight when put in the pond and now is close to 20" long & very thick across the back & shoulders.  A steady diet of goldfish & nightcrawlers will do that, especially when he doesn't have to travel far to get them.

 

So the other day, we had the company that built the pond out to do an annual cleanout.  During this time, they remove the bass & koi and put them in a kiddie pool sized container while they work.  I was away from the house, so I asked my wife to get a picture of the bass out of the water and ask the guy to estimate the weight.  Below is what Blutarsky (the bass) looks like now and I started laughing out loud when I read that the Pond guy estimated he weighs 7 lbs.  He is a healthy, plump fish, but he is lucky if he has pushed past the 4lb mark.  I'm guessing the pond guy has never seen a big-headed bass in the 7-8 lb class, because Blutarsky definitely is not that.

 

Fisherman are known for their exaggerations, but what other examples of you had where people completely mis-estimated the weight of a fish that they were in close contact with?

 

[TnRiver46]

You should hear people talk about terrestrial wildlife! Every animal is the biggest (insert species) that everyone has ever seen 

 

I was fishing with some buddies on the Holston River one time and a regular size coyote was standing on the bank. You should’ve heard them try to talk through what that was! To this day they still talk about the time we saw a donkey wolf the size of a grizzly 

[A-Jay]

This might help ~ 

A-Jay

 

 

[JustJames]

I used to fish with a guy from work a few times here in Canyon Lake. He also knows someone and fish at camp ground a lot. He always talks about 5-6-7 or even 10lb bass he caught here or what lures should I use to catch those. I stopped fishing with him, may be, because I feel bad or envy that I don’t catch bass that big or as often. The kick is, he didn’t even know how to flip 1.5-2 lb bass over the rail.

I don’t know I’d rather catch my dinks than do a big talk.

[roadwarrior]

Well, just a week or two ago I hooked up with a MONSTER that would have

easily weighed over 22 lbs...

 

    ...but she got off.

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, just a week or two ago I hooked up with a MONSTER that would have

easily weighed over 22 lbs.....but she got off.

Let me guess...it was in the middle of your sleep-cycle...right?

[soflabasser]

FWC TrophyCatch Program recently did a study on estimating bass weights based on pictures. What they learned is most people overestimate the weight of bass held close to a camera and underestimate the weight of the bass held close to the body and away from the camera lens. Also a weight scale is not always 100% accurate if it is not certified to be a accurate weight scale. That is why I prefer taking pictures of the length, girth, and a picture of the bass being weighed. Anyone can make a 20-24 inch bass look like it is +25 inches on a picture but a 25 inch bass will always be 25 inches when it is measured properly. 

[12poundbass]

Not surprised considering just yesterday on the radio I heard them say that 58% of people under 30 have never seen a cow in person! How does that even happen? 

[Bird]

Yep, not close to 7 lbs but pretty fish nonetheless. 

 

Exaggeration is common place among hunters and fishermen but it's all in good fun.

 

Let my cousin hunt behind the house this year and he claims he saw a whitetail buck that looked like it had a step latter turned upside down on it's head.....right.

[soflabasser]

3 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

Not surprised considering just yesterday on the radio I heard them say that 58% of people under 30 have never seen a cow in person! How does that even happen? 

A large percentage of people live in big cities and many of those people never visit rural areas. I live in a big city but have traveled to extremely rural areas so I have seen many breeds of cattle.

[12poundbass]

6 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

A large percentage of people live in big cities and many of those people never visit rural areas. I live in a big city but have traveled to extremely rural areas so I have seen many breeds of cattle.

I’ve lived in small town USA forever, so I guess it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around. 
 

I guess it’s like this, my regional manager was saying last year, “if I take you country boys and stick you in our downtown Chicago operation and you see crack heads all over you’d be a tad nervous. If I take those Chicago boys and put them where you boys work and they see a coyote, they’d probably freak out.” ?

 

Crazy to think about, but it’s kind of true. 

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, A-Jay said:

This might help ~ 

A-Jay

 

 

 

Did you read the post? 

 

I wasn't asking what the fish weighed, I have a good idea of that even without putting him on a scale.  What I was was surprised how off a person who works with fish every day could be when they had the fish in their hands (or net).

 

 

 

 

54 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

FWC TrophyCatch Program recently did a study on estimating bass weights based on pictures... 

I read that article, it was informative.

 

What I found interesting about this was how far he was off while literally holding the fish in his hands (in the net).  Maybe he was counting the weight of the net and his arm in his estimation.

 

 

 

 

26 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I’ve lived in small town USA forever, so I guess it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around. 
 

I guess it’s like this, my regional manager was saying last year, “if I take you country boys and stick you in our downtown Chicago operation and you see crack heads all over you’d be a tad nervous. If I take those Chicago boys and put them where you boys work and they see a coyote, they’d probably freak out.” ?

 

Crazy to think about, but it’s kind of true. 

 

Further, you don't even need to live in the country to see wildlife, most suburbs have a decent amount as well.  Interesting how many people who are city-bound their entire live consider themselves "environmentalists".  

[soflabasser]

42 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I’ve lived in small town USA forever, so I guess it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around. 
 

I guess it’s like this, my regional manager was saying last year, “if I take you country boys and stick you in our downtown Chicago operation and you see crack heads all over you’d be a tad nervous. If I take those Chicago boys and put them where you boys work and they see a coyote, they’d probably freak out.”

 

It really depends on the person. There are ''city boys'' that fish and hunt better than ''country boys'' so you cannot say all city boys would be afraid of coyotes. I have seen coyotes, American panthers, crocodiles, alligators, Burmese pythons, water moccasins, other dangerous wildlife while fishing and I enjoy seeing them since they are a sign of a healthy ecosystem. With that said people are much more dangerous than any animal so being inside a big city is much more dangerous.

33 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

I read that article, it was informative.

 

What I found interesting about this was how far he was off while literally holding the fish in his hands (in the net).  Maybe he was counting the weight of the net and his arm in his estimation.

People that have weighed and measured many bass are better at estimating the weight of a bass than people that barely do this. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

I’ve lived in small town USA forever, so I guess it’s hard for me to wrap my brain around. 
 

I guess it’s like this, my regional manager was saying last year, “if I take you country boys and stick you in our downtown Chicago operation and you see crack heads all over you’d be a tad nervous. If I take those Chicago boys and put them where you boys work and they see a coyote, they’d probably freak out.” ?

 

Crazy to think about, but it’s kind of true. 

There’s coyotes that walk the streets of downtown Chicago, it’s pretty wild! They had video of some that learned to watch for crossing traffic 

 

 

but I digress!! I recall my first over estimate bass weight phenomenon. When I was about 13 I caught one I knew was 5 lbs and it was 3.5 

[NYWayfarer]

A couple of years ago I caught a 4 pound Smallmouth Bass out of the local river. I asked a passerby to please take a picture with my phone of me holding it. She did and remarked that she had never seen a fish that size come out of the river. She said that thing must weight 10 pounds!

 

The legend of the 10 pound Smallmouth Bass caught out of the local river started right there. 

[roadwarrior]

 

 

[king fisher]

A man who can't make a bass grow after an intentional release, or LDR,  either has no imagination, or is a lousy story teller.  It is an insult to the fish not to give it the honor of adding to its size.  Therefore  I try not to let the truth get in the way of a good fish story.   

[12poundbass]

2 hours ago, soflabasser said:

It really depends on the person. There are ''city boys'' that fish and hunt better than ''country boys'' so you cannot say all city boys would be afraid of coyotes. I have seen coyotes, American panthers, crocodiles, alligators, Burmese pythons, water moccasins, other dangerous wildlife while fishing and I enjoy seeing them since they are a sign of a healthy ecosystem. With that said people are much more dangerous than any animal so being inside a big city is much more dangerous.

People that have weighed and measured many bass are better at estimating the weight of a bass than people that barely do this. 

I guarantee I’d freak if I saw giant snake or an alligator! I’d scream like a school girl, first to admit it! 

[WRB]

Most 10lb bass weigh 7 lbs on a scale.

Tom

[roadwarrior]

44 minutes ago, king fisher said:

I try not to let the truth get in the way of a good fish story.   

[DitchPanda]

I always worried that I overestimated by alot so I got a scale. Weighed something at home on my girlfriends food scale then compared it to mine and it was dead on. Next day I went fishing and took the scale along to check myself. Caught what I thought was a 4 and a 2.5..they were 3.89 and 2.61 respectively. I was happy with that.

[soflabasser]

1 hour ago, 12poundbass said:

I guarantee I’d freak if I saw giant snake or an alligator! I’d scream like a school girl, first to admit it! 

There is no need to fear snakes and alligators but you do have to respect them. For example it is not a wise idea to approach a mother alligator when she is protecting her nest.

[king fisher]

I bring a scale and a tape when I go fishing, for my personal knowledge.  As far as what I tell my friends regarding the size of my fish.  I like to use the less scientific method of knowledgeable estimates, combined with positive thinking, and a healthy imagination.

[Smokinal]

This summer I had one on that weighed 9lbs-4oz.

Unfortunatley she jumped a few feet from the boat and got off.

[Maggiesmaster]

Our local lake has a 13-16” slot limit, so everyone has a measuring board instead of a scale.  One close estimate of the weight is:   Wt(lbs)=length (in) cubed /1600. That’s what I use also.