What coulda been my new PB (PIC)

[Paul Roberts]

You know, if you do a lot of photography you get to realize how much a lens can/will distort reality, and how critical distance-to-the-lens-plane is. This is exponentially pronounced with a wider angle lens.

The area closest to the lens and to the center will be magnified. Just an inch can matter A LOT. When taking photos, think about an invisible plane (like a pane of glass), a fixed distance in front of the lens. As you move closer, the first objects/areas that plane crosses will be the largest. The wider the lens setting the greater the distortion.

If you know this you can make fish look really big. (We always made jokes about Bill "Big Hands" Dance, and Al "Popeye Lindner.) Or really small usually unintentionally.

This also makes judging fish size, after the fact, really impossible, with any accuracy. You also cannot accurately, from a snapshot, measure a fish's length, and then say your leg or arm length, and get it right even close. You can do this, but you have to plan for it ahead of time, and be very precise in executing it.

If you want the truest photographic representation of a fish, zoom in a bit (so you are not at "wide angle"), make sure the camera lens (that invisible plane) is perfectly parallel with the subject, hold the fish so it is touching your chest (same plane as your chin) and smile. But anglers (and magazines) don't tend to want these images, preferring the distortion, for their WOW! effect. In general, mature female bass (usually 16up) have mature proportions and can pass for really big bass.

When fishing we are often in cramped quarters in a boat and the photographer has to use a wide lens setting, which sets up amazing distortion. And of course people know enough to push the fish out toward the lens, or they inadvertently end up with an arm, hand, or rod jutted forward, that then appears huge. Look at the fingers holding the fish they are likely closer to the same plane as some of the fish. They won't tell you how big the fish is, but will give you an idea of the amount of distortion in the overall picture.

The best remedy is to carry a QUALITY and CALIBRATED scale. Second best is a tape measure. We can all judge relative body condition from there and get in the ballpark on a guess, because we know a 16 bass cannot weigh 5lbs. The range for an 18 is 2 to 4lbs going from very thin to potato sack. Yes, there are waters where an 18" could be 5lbs but this is very rare and it would be obvious -your eyes would bug out of your head upon seeing such a freak.

So, here it is again. This data was taken from 1000's of northern largemouth bass. Realize that this represents average condition. Bass may vary quite a bit either side.

Source: American Fisheries Society

Length Weight

8 in.      5 oz.

9 in.      7 oz.

10 in.      9 oz.

11 in.  11 oz.

12 in. 14 oz

13 in. 1 lb. 3 oz

14 in. 1 lb. 7 oz

15 in. 1 lb. 13 oz.

16 in. 2 lb. 4 oz.

17 in. 2 lb. 12 oz.

18 in. 3 lb. 4 oz.

19 in. 3 lb. 14 oz.

20 in. 4 lb. 9 oz.

21 in. 5 lb. 6 oz.

22 in. 6 lb. 4 oz.

23 in. 7 lb. 3 oz.

Here's a great article on fish weights and angler expectation's, from a cool site run by Brian Waldman:

http://www.bigindianabass.com/big_indiana_bass/2006/12/all_fishermen_a.html

[thetr20one]

looks like the responses on this thread might keep that mojo down from the sound of it.

I enjoy all of the responses, even negative. That what makes the world go round dude! It seems to me that somebody must pee in your cornflakes on a daily basis from all the negative posts I have seen from you though. I say I have lost my mojo because of my limited time to fish lately and how rusty I was. Well it only takes a few fish to regain confidence for me, sorry!