Looking into water distorting the size of bass.

[Hop]

When veiwing a bass from above the water how much does it distort the true size of a fish. I saw alot of the fish in the water I caught today and they appeared much bigger in the water than out? I am just curious. I am a bank fisherman and I rarely see the fish until after I caught them. Today was a nice exception. I was able to target most of the fish I caught. The only thing that worked was a watermelon Senko.

[Gatorbassman]

It depends on the depth of the fish.

[Guest the_muddy_man]

It also depends on whose looking at the fish. Ron has never seen a bass he casts to that wiegh less than 5 lbs However when he gets the 14 3/4 one pounder in the boat he says AH THE WRONG FISH HIT IT! [smiley=roflmao1.gif

Like Fkukey how deep the fish is so does the angle your seeing the bass

[roadwarrior]

At least 25%.

It's kinda like "estimated weight." Most "5 lb bass" weigh either side of 3 lbs. Almost all 7-8's that aren't weighed are less than 5 lbs. A 5 lb bass is BIG, a 10 is HUGE. The bass some of our guys have been posting are truely incredible! It's unlikely that more than a very select few will ever see a bass like Randal's 15 lb 12 oz monster. Fish_Chris has caught a few, but just looking at the percentages here at BassResource.com, that's 2/10,000 (rounded).

[Mattlures]

Thats a good question because I caught somethis year that to me looked like they were 2 lbs and when I got them up they were twice that size. For me it seems that size plays a big part in distortion. Small looking fish almost always look bigger when they are caught and I have caught a couple that a swore were 12 and only weighed 10. For the most part the water makes fish look smaller to me. 80% are bigger than I thought. It also has to do with how many big fish you have seen and caught recently. If its been a while they look bigger if I have caught a few recently then they look smaller.

Glad I could help. ha ha  :-/

[David P]

Thats a good question because I caught somethis year that to me looked like they were 2 lbs and when I got them up they were twice that size. For me it seems that size plays a big part in distortion. Small looking fish almost always look bigger when they are caught and I have caught a couple that a swore were 12 and only weighed 10. For the most part the water makes fish look smaller to me. 80% are bigger than I thought. It also has to do with how many big fish you have seen and caught recently. If its been a while they look bigger if I have caught a few recently then they look smaller.

Glad I could help. ha ha  :-/

Yah I think you're a rare exceptions. You fish for MONSTERS! For me, and I always thought it was a general rule, water magnifies everything, does it not?

To me, if something looks 4lbs in the water, I'd say 2-2 1/2 out of water, if something looks 8, it's probably 5-6.

Just from what I've noticed...  I think because you're so used to monster bass, your perception is a bit different.

[George Welcome]

Refraction can make objects appear closer than they are, it is responsible for allowing water to magnify objects. First, as light is entering a drop of water, it slows down. If the water's surface is not flat, then the light will be bent into a new path. This round shape will bend the light outwards and as it spreads out, the image you see gets larger.

[jomatty]

im always surprised by how big they are.  maybe im just pessamistic by nature and so i estimate cautiously.

[Triton21]

What Matt said, at least 80% of the times they look smaler than they are to me.

Kelley

[Dan Pitre]

LOL I was just thinking this 'cause I when ever I see one i'm like man it looks big and bam theres my 3lber lol    ;D