One thing I have noticed is that the guys who "don't care how much a fish weighs so never weigh them" are the same guys who get most animated and often downright angry when I tell them the fish they "estimated" at 5lb looked more like 3lb to me, but of course we can't say for sure because he never weighed it :lol:
Chek out the 4lb 4oz sea trout on the Outer Hebrides Fisheries Trust page. Estimate, new scales needed or porkies?
I almost always have a weigh sling in my waistcoat and a set of scales in my bag, I don't weigh many fresh water fish caught in Scotland as to be honest, I rarely catch any whumpers, I do on occasion weigh sea fish for the records. I like to weigh the occasional fish to "re-calibrate" my mind.
I do not weigh fish, not having any suitable means in the first place !! However, I do quickly measure the length of a good fish if I am in the tube because there is a scale across the apron. You can then use a trout length/weight table to get an idea and these show different condition measures for poor, normal and good.
Usually I can't be bothered, but I might take a quick photo. 😀😀
I do not weigh fish any more when younger I did on occasion. I would like to think after all these years I would have a modicom of sense of what a fish weighs. Having said that many & that includes me on occasion can over estimate, never under estimate :roll: thogh the ones that got away seem to put on more weight as the years roll bye. :)
I usually just call it a nice Trout that does me.
Tight Lines
8-9".....1/2lb Breakfast Trout
3/4 pun.... Touching 1lb
Easily 1.1/2 pun.....Just over a pound
Must be 2lbs........ 1.3/4lb
Easily 3lb.....2.1/2lb
I rest my case
In my experience through observation over many decades unweighed fish weight up to 75% more than weighed fish. :D
I had a whumper on South Uist which was 25 inches. I thought maybe four and a half pounds. Andy Roobard said 6 lbs for sure which did check out a while later on the tables. The Fish Hebrides site asked if I could send in a photo and it grew to "about 8 pounds" just as Andy told me it would ! :D :D
I recall a humorous article by Jon Beer in which he was recounting the sayings of Irish boatmen on the trout loughs. A favourite was "that one's a good three quarters sir"
He ended by saying that in his experience a fish that was "a good three quarters" weighed exactly 8 ounces. :lol:
If it was something worth weighing, then I would but mostly you knew just not something by looking at them of the approximate weight, not something I would get upset at
I'm usually not far off with my guesstimates. When i get a good fish i always have a guess before i weigh it, but more often than not, i'm usually under rather than over. I think the majority of people that exaggerate the weight, haven't caught many big fish, that's how they have no idea of the right weight.
I keep a few decent sea trout each year for smoking, and I can say this chart is very accurate for sea trout in the 5-7lb range.
https://www.durhamflyfishing.co.uk/resources/Brown%20Trout%20Weight%20Length%20Ratio%20DFFCo.pdf
Quote from: Hill loch gold on October 28, 2021, 07:20:07 PM
I'm usually not far off with my guesstimates. When i get a good fish i always have a guess before i weigh it, but more often than not, i'm usually under rather than over. I think the majority of people that exaggerate the weight, haven't caught many big fish, that's how they have no idea of the right weight.
Totally agree with that. I suppose it's natural that if you catch something way bigger than you have before, it looks so massive your mind automatically goes into a frenzy. You see it a lot on Malham Tarn near me - there's some big trout in there.....but nowhere near as many 6lbers as you might believe from social media posts.
Then there's the 3lb grayling syndrome....... :D
Matt
Quote from: mattheweastham on November 19, 2021, 11:33:09 PM
Then there's the 3lb grayling syndrome....... :D
Matt
You would think they were ten a penny... :lol:
I carry a tape measure marked with the slim/norm/good weights from the attached table. I found when I used to take the bigger fish, the table was pretty accurate when the trout were weighed at home.
Once into the season, most of the lochs I fish seem to produce "good" fish but 2 lochs are much closer to the poor/slim ratios although as it happens if I am keeping trout is it usually from both these latter lochs.
But to be honest, size does not matter much to me these days :D
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I take the same approach with a very similar length table. Easy to get length with my hand at a 20cms or 8inch hand span. Gives me as much of an answer that I might need to know.