Bad Estimates of Bass Weight

[12poundbass]

25 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

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.

I have no problem slapping a heifer, bull whatever you want to call them up side the head (done it quite a few times) up side the head but the minuet I see a snake or any alligator I’d scream like a little girl! 

[OCdockskipper]

19 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

... the minute I see a snake or any alligator I’d scream like a little girl! 

 

That's a side effect of being a Mike Iaconnelli fan...

[Big Hands]

On 11/20/2020 at 6:39 PM, Maggiesmaster said:

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.

I find lots of variation with the length of a bass. I have had three bass that weighed the same, but were 16.5", 17" and 18" long caught from the same spot on the same day. Some are chunks, and some are hollowed out submarines. 

 

If I don't have a scale (I don't have one in my boat), and it's worth measuring, I just measure the length and get it back in the water. 

[Fallser]

On 11/20/2020 at 4:37 PM, 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 went to college in NW Tennessee, and when going through freshman orientation, because I had a funny accent, some of my fellow students asked me where I was from, and I said Philadelphia, Pa.  They offered to take me over to the AG barn and show me a cow.  That weekend, a friend who had been there for a year invited me to BBQ at one of the English professor's farm.   We were sitting around getting high and someone came by with a tray of BBQ and offered me some.  I took a few pieces and started to eat them, and I noticed everybody looking at me.  What?.  Do you know what you're eating? Yep, Squirrel, not bad.  I like them in stew.  End of trying to fool the city slicker.

 It's amazing how adaptable wildlife can be, in the city,  beside the usual squirrels, racoons and opossum, we have a decent herd of deer, which is culled every to keep them from consuming the park, wild turkeys, foxes and coyotes.   One thing I see in the city that I haven't seen in the wild are black squirrels.  That would be score for my fly tying materials if I could catch one of them in my .22's scope out in the woods. 

  

[Fallser]

On 11/20/2020 at 4:37 PM, soflabasser said:

 

 Let's see if y'all can help an old man out and come up with the weight for this fish.  It was caught in late May, post spawn. The fish is held close to my body.  The person taking the picture was about 4 or 5 feet away.  I had neither a tape measure or a scale.   I'm about 16" from shoulder to shoulder.   My estimate was  21 inches and around 5 lbs.  

 

  

[soflabasser]

57 minutes ago, Fallser said:

 Let's see if y'all can help an old man out and come up with the weight for this fish.  It was caught in late May, post spawn. The fish is held close to my body.  The person taking the picture was about 4 or 5 feet away.  I had neither a tape measure or a scale.   I'm about 16" from shoulder to shoulder.   My estimate was  21 inches and around 5 lbs.  

 

  

It is hard to tell the weight of a bass by looking at a photo but I will give an estimate of 4.5-5 pounds based on you estimating its length at 21 inches long. This bass has a normal to thin build so it could of weighed more if it had a larger girth. Again it is hard to tell the weight of a bass by a photo and I would of been able to give you a better estimate if you measured the length and girth. It is a very nice northern largemouth bass which any bass fisherman would enjoy catching. The following formula gives a very good estimate of the weight of the bass;

Length X Length X Girth / 1200 = estimated weight of a bass in pounds.

 

[Bluebasser86]

I was fishing a 7 acre city "lake" by our house a couple years ago when a catfish fisherman on shore blurted out to me that they'd shocked 3 10lb bass out of that year ? This puddle rarely produced fish over 3 lbs, most were 10-12 inches, no shad, in NE Kansas. I'd be shocked if there was a 6lb fish in it. I caught one that was 5 and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the pond boss.

 

The Kansas City Star ran a picture several years ago of a guy that caught an alleged 11.5lb bass from a marina dock at one of the reservoirs I fish. On it's best day, the fish might have weighed 5.5 pounds. Apparently it was the marina pet that people frequently fed but the guy still decided to eat it, you know, like a jerk would do.

 

When I worked at Cabela's, I had a guy tell me he caught a 13lb bass out of a backwater of the Kansas River. Usually, I just smiled at people who told pretty obvious lies, but this guy was so certain, I couldn't help myself. There's so few bass in the river, and he was claiming he smashed the state record, and then he offered to get a picture of it from his truck. I didn't think he'd come back when he went to get it, but he did and I had all the other guys who worked there waiting to see it. I'm sure the whole store heard us howling when he slapped that picture of his big drum down on the counter like he was really going to show me something.

[throttleplate]

15 hours ago, Fallser said:

 Let's see if y'all can help an old man out and come up with the weight for this fish.  It was caught in late May, post spawn. The fish is held close to my body.  The person taking the picture was about 4 or 5 feet away.  I had neither a tape measure or a scale.   I'm about 16" from shoulder to shoulder.   My estimate was  21 inches and around 5 lbs.  

 

  

looks 2.6 lbs 14 inch

[Sphynx]

On 11/20/2020 at 6:18 PM, soflabasser said:

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.

I have never once felt fear of a wild critter, they play by very predictable rules and in 99.9% of incidents that result in some sort of harm being done to a person by a critter, the person was doing something to either threaten said critter, or make itself look like a convenient meal for them, don't do those things and they will live and let live...you go to downtown (insert major city here) you will get no such predictability from the addicts and other low quality examples of humans which predate upon their own species in one way or another, humans are far more dangerous to other humans than any critters. 

 

As to overestimating sizes on fish, or game animals, one of the difficulties is the subjective nature of the comparison, "I saw the biggest bass of my life yesterday!" is a thing that two guys can say about two completely different sized fish, and both are telling the truth, it is for exactly this reason that scales were invented, so that everybody has an objective point of reference from which to base things off of.

[N Florida Mike]

On 11/20/2020 at 2:15 PM, A-Jay said:

This might help ~ 

A-Jay

 

 

Ya think?

[BrianMDTX]

I always try and take pics holding the bass as close to my body as I can. You can always tell when someone is trying to make a fish look bigger than it really is. 
 

Don’t get me started on bucks, bulls and bruins lol. 

[soflabasser]

4 hours ago, Sphynx said:

I have never once felt fear of a wild critter, they play by very predictable rules and in 99.9% of incidents that result in some sort of harm being done to a person by a critter, the person was doing something to either threaten said critter, or make itself look like a convenient meal for them, don't do those things and they will live and let live...you go to downtown (insert major city here) you will get no such predictability from the addicts and other low quality examples of humans which predate upon their own species in one way or another, humans are far more dangerous to other humans than any critters. 

That is why I mentioned earlier that people are more dangerous than any animal you will encounter in the wild. Animals attack to protect themselves, to eat you, or to protect their territory. A lot of people will do anything if it gives them the smallest perceived advantage with little to no remorse. These types of people lack empathy, are extremely greedy, selfish, and always looking to get ahead by doing whatever it takes regardless if it is wrong. I have free dived next to alligators, crocodiles, sharks, stingrays, other dangerous wildlife I trust them much more than those people who take advantage of others. 

4 hours ago, Sphynx said:

As to overestimating sizes on fish, or game animals, one of the difficulties is the subjective nature of the comparison, "I saw the biggest bass of my life yesterday!" is a thing that two guys can say about two completely different sized fish, and both are telling the truth, it is for exactly this reason that scales were invented, so that everybody has an objective point of reference from which to base things off of.

That is why it is best to get a picture of the length, girth, and a picture of the bass being weighed without you touching the bass or the metal hook that weighs the bass. 

[WRB]

20 hours ago, Fallser said:

 Let's see if y'all can help an old man out and come up with the weight for this fish.  It was caught in late May, post spawn. The fish is held close to my body.  The person taking the picture was about 4 or 5 feet away.  I had neither a tape measure or a scale.   I'm about 16" from shoulder to shoulder.   My estimate was  21 inches and around 5 lbs.  

 

  

If the measurement is between 20”-21” your estimate is close.

Post spawn big head skinny male bass makes it difficult to get a good weight. 

Formula Length x Length x girth dived by 1200 works if you measure accurately. Without girth the average healthy Northern strain LMB girth is 75% of length. Length is measure mouth closed to center of tail.

Tom

[OCdockskipper]

1 hour ago, soflabasser said:

That is why I mentioned earlier that (some) people are more dangerous than any animal you will encounter in the wild...

 

While I don't disagree, the devils advocate in me would suggest that there are also some people in the world who are more kind than any animal you would find in the wild or domesticated.  The difficulty is discerning which type of person you are dealing with at the moment.

 

Lucky for me, I can tell the difference just by looking at them! ?

[soflabasser]

21 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

 

While I don't disagree, the devils advocate in me would suggest that there are also some people in the world who are more kind than any animal you would find in the wild or domesticated.  The difficulty is discerning which type of person you are dealing with at the moment.

 

Lucky for me, I can tell the difference just by looking at them! ?

There are good people in this world just like there are bad people. You cannot tell by looking since the worst of the worst are masters at manipulating. They act charismatic to get what they want but it is all an act. There is a name for those who lack empathy, are greedy, only look after themselves, take advantage of others, etc but I will stop here for now. Back to the main subject, the man overestimated the weight of your pet bass but that is understandable since he probably does not fish often. It is also possible he gave you an exaggerated weight estimate to make you happy and in turn you will keep giving him work. That is why it is best to never underestimate a person's intelligence no matter what profession they have.

[jimmyjoe]

On 11/20/2020 at 8:47 PM, 12poundbass said:

.... a heifer, bull whatever you want to call them ....

 

   Man, if you don't know the difference between a heifer and a bull, you got a lot more problems than trying to estimate fish weight!     ???      jj

[12poundbass]

9 hours ago, jimmyjoe said:

 

   Man, if you don't know the difference between a heifer and a bull, you got a lot more problems than trying to estimate fish weight!     ???      jj

Good call! I do know the difference, I’m not sure why I said whatever you want to call them, must be one too many Miller Lites. I spent two years on a dairy farm building barns and a parlor, so I know the difference. ??

[the reel ess]

On 11/20/2020 at 1:46 PM, OCdockskipper said:

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?

 

I fish a place that has a good population of bigger bass. There are a good many in there 6 lbs to just shy of 8. But I've only caught 1 barely over 8 lbs and I've been fishing it pretty hard for 7 years. Occasionally I'll hear someone tell me they caught an 8 pounder there and I'll ask for pics. They never have any. I assume it was probably 6+ and they didn't weigh it.

[tholmes]

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought it would be about Bassmasters magazine.?

 

Tom

[gim]

On 11/20/2020 at 6:54 PM, WRB said:

Most 10lb bass weigh 7 lbs on a scale.

Tom

 

This is why I measure my fish.  A bump board, tape measure, or official length is a much more accurate way of calculating how big they are.  A 17 inch bass is a 17 inch bass on my board, your board, and everyone else's board.  Measuring boards don't need calibrating either.

[TnRiver46]

On 11/22/2020 at 2:07 PM, Sphynx said:

I have never once felt fear of a wild critter

CLEARLY, you have never mowed over yellow jackets 

[the reel ess]

3 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

CLEARLY, you have never mowed over yellow jackets 

I have. 

[Fallser]

7 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

CLEARLY, you have never mowed over yellow jackets 

Not recently, but they were a major hazard when either my dad or I were mowing my grandmother's lawn.  Many a day the gas mower ran out of gas as it sat over a yellow jacket nest after one or the other had abandon it.

[TnRiver46]

11 hours ago, the reel ess said:

I have. 

 

7 hours ago, Fallser said:

Not recently, but they were a major hazard when either my dad or I were mowing my grandmother's lawn.  Many a day the gas mower ran out of gas as it sat over a yellow jacket nest after one or the other had abandon it.

Those jokers will strike fear into your heart! Those and hornets 

[roadwarrior]

Hornets?  How did we get here?

Oh well...let's move on.

 

Good night Irene.