Weight/Scales Paranioa

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Mark Hodson

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Caught a nice roach a couple of days ago and decided to weigh it as it looked close to 2lb's, went 1lb 5oz on my trusty old avons, thought I had better go to specsavers and forgot all about it.
That was until I saw a roach in the press that was "apparently" 2lb 8oz but looked no bigger than the one I had caught. I hastily checked the accuracy of my avons using various food stufs from the pantry and found them to be spot on.This is not the first time I have gone through this.
Am I catching hollow fish or are some of the people in the papers telling porkies ?
 
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Ron Troversial Clay

Guest
Mark,

There are a couple of barbel in this week's AT that quite frankly do not look their claimed weights.

But look at our Graham's 14 pounder from the Dove on page 4.

I know Graham is not a big bloke but I think you will agree with me that barbel looks a mighty fish.
 
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Mark Hodson

Guest
But just who do these people think they are kidding, we all catch plenty of fish and some of us catch the occasional good'un either by fluke or design so we all have a good idea what a 14lb barbel or a 2 1/2lb roach looks like. I can't beleive the press print these photo's of fish at their claimed weights, they must be desperate to fill pages !!
Nice to see Graham holding the torch for the honest angler.
As for the fibbers their fishing karma must be all over the place, may the ghost of Issac Walton strike them down.
 
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Iceman

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Yeah I've noticed fish regularly appear in the mags with weights that look way off , but what gets me is some even get awards and badges for them . But shows how trusting? the editors are and how dishonest some anglers really are!!
 
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Bryan Baron 2

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Have to agree the claimd 15-4 page 2 looks no bigger than the 12-7 at the bottom of page 4 both fish from the Ribble. At least the fish looks about right when comparing it against Graham's fish.

You see it on telly thy usually come out with some statements like. "Theres no need to way it. Its easely 20Ib could be 25Ib"

They only con themselfs these people. So i say leave them to it if it's what makes them happy.
 
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Big Rik

Guest
anybody who has fished with me, will know what a stickler I am for weights.

Sway roach to 1-15 for a few people on here.

Jeffs carp at 19-13.

If you're not going to weigh it accurately, then don't weigh it at all.
 
W

Wolfman Woody

Guest
Still say it was 19-13-4 drams.

What's that in kilos, then Sensei? A nudge over 9 kilos (9.0057 PRECISELY).
 
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Nigel Connor(ACA ,SAA)

Guest
To be fair a photo can often be misleading in representing a fish's weight.A big fish can look small & visa versa depending on camera angle & how it is held.I dont think its always a question of the captor inventing a weight although I'm sure this happens.

I've heard reference to having scales independently checked. Who would one approach for this?
 
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John Jones

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Up till a few months ago neither me nor Graham had managed a 2lb roach. We were fishing a lake in the Cotswolds that shall remain forever secret, when Whatnot had a roach that looked a bit special. I weighed it for him and it went 2lb 2oz on checked scales.
After he finished kissing the ground I walked away muttering 'lucky b......d'.
Couple o weeks later fished there again. I had a roach that looked at least as big. It went 1lb 10oz on the same scales.
Ah well! Nil desperandum, I'll just keep trying.
 
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Ron Troversial Clay

Guest
I am an expert in catching pike that weigh 193/4 lbs and barbel that weigh 91/2 lbs. I've lost count of them at that weight years ago.

Mind you Walker had a word for it:

"If we are to get upset if a big fish loses a few ounces of shit whilst we are playing it and doesn't quite make that so called yardstick which some idiot defines as a specimen, then we might as well give up angling".

He wrote that in a letter to me years ago.

Of course 9 pound barbel, 19 pound pike and 13/4 pound roach are great fish. If you catch fish of this size regularly, you are just as good an angler, if not better than those who get one massive fish and never catch anything else ever again.
 
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Big Rik

Guest
Sorry John, I should say that it's not the misreading or accuracy of the scales, but how the weighing is performed.

Wetted sling or weigh purse, onto the scales and zeroed.
A few pulls of the sling to see if the needle resettles on zero.
Scales held by the top loop and not the body.
Scales not laid on the ground after zeroing.
Fish into the sling and then raised slowly and steadily off of the mat, using a pole or suchlike for steadiness if required.
Accurate reading taken when scales settle.
Return fish, double check scales still return to zero.

Simple.
 
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Wolfman Woody

Guest
I bet that carp would have been over twenty on my scales, Rik. :)
 
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Big Rik

Guest
you know how festidious I was Jeff.

No point in not being accurate.
If you're not accurate, then you just as well guess the weight.
 
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Big Rik

Guest
and you guessed that fish at about 17 or 18, as did I.

Just goes to show.....
 
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MaNick

Guest
?
When i weigh fish,which is rare, i often just log the weight in my mind to the nearest 1lb?... whats wrong with that...

The only time a fish needs to be recorded as an exact weight is, in my opinion....

If there is a record being broken
If it is a personal best
If there is financial gain being made...

If you never publicise your catches, then "about 10lb" for an 11lb fish is my attitude... am i so wrong?.
 
GrahamM

GrahamM

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Nothing wrong at all in guestimating fish to the nearest pound if that's what you're happy with.

But if you're going to weigh them there's no point in not doing it right.

As far as I'm concerned that's the only way to do anything. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.
 
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MaNick

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I'm not saying i dont weigh them correctly Graham, i'm saying that when i commit it to memory, i dont think....

"Geez, that was a great 10.8.8 fish i had out of there!....".. it was a 10 and a halfer!

I can see that those people who like to keep records, monitor fish growth etc need to record the exact amount?....

Actually i should have put that in my fist suggestion...
 
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Big Rik

Guest
The only reason Jeff will remember the weight of his carp, because
a) it's a PB
b) we were going for his first 20

(maybe we should add this to the thread about easy 40's in the home counties)
 
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