Thoughts on Size and weights of fish.

[rando]

There is a fair bit of debate going on regarding the accuracy or otherwise of stated fish sizes.
There are at least two schools of thought I can think of here.
On the one hand there are the competitive fishers/club members who insist on a verifiable statement of size & weight, because that is the environment they fish in.

Another school of thought is that of the purely recreational fisher who's parameters are less strict, ie its the pb for me. or its about...kg.
I would be in this camp

I cant see any benefit in beating -up on a person because he is on a different side of the divide to you.

In my holiday van there is a little plaque left by a previous owner that says.



Behold the Fisherman
Early is his rising & mighty are his preparations
that all do know his leave.
Late he returneth with spirit about him
And the truth is not in him



Kind of says it all for me.

rando

[deepfried]

Hey rando,
Know where this is coming from. I do keep track of some of my PBs but only for a bench mark for me to hopefully beat another time. Not for bragging rights as i know some one has always caught bigger, there for my own satisfaction. Some are roughies and estimates, some are are on digital scales. From now on if i posted in the reports a weight i would make sure it is accurate ( definately would now ) or state an estimate. May even provide video footage with an independant auditors report stating location of catch, line class, bait or lure, time of day or night etc etc. Nah just taking the pi$$. I am more in the recfisho camp i guess.
My gripe is when the beating up continues into other threads and it effects others enjoyment of this site.

[Jeremy]

good on ya for opening up a new thread here so as not to hijack the other thread.

I will just repeat some of my thoughts on this.

If you are going to make a claim that a fish is a given weight or length, in a public forum, you had better be accurate. Not very difficult to do. I have had a few pairs of digital scales in the last few years and all have been remarkably accurate. Brag mat is not as accurate as a tape measure, but certainly acceptable. If you cannot get an accurate weight or length, THEN SAY SO. Say that you are giving an estimation.

Yes, there are alot of people who do take these things seriously. I am one of them. I am in an ANSA club where alot of this stuff, including for major trophies, relies on accurate and honest self reporting. Big loss of face if you were ever found out to be cheating. Same goes for club, state and national record claims.

I am guessing alot of other keen anglers would also take weights and/or lengths seriously. Impoundment barra anglers - how would you be claiming a metre barra id it was 85cm? What about the 100cm flathead club (I am not a member)? Things like LBG and quality fish like those snapper off the rocks are well appreciated by others for the effort involved. Exaggeration of the size of the fish leads to a lack of credibility - which may explain why the bad smell continues into other threads.

I know I have repeated some stuff I said earlier, but worthwhile for a seperate thread.

Jeremy

[Scott nthQld]

good on ya for opening up a new thread here so as not to hijack the other thread.



Jeremy

Hypocritical at best Jeremy, well done. I of course refer to your and others persistant hijacking of another members thread, berating him about an irrelevant fish, topic, however you want to put it.

I don't see why everything has to be 100% accurate to apease the minority of members who are in a formal club. Ausfish is not about scores or competitions or tournaments or records, it is simply a public, privately owned, forum where people can come and get advice on fishing, camping, 4wd, boating etc, and share memorable fishing trips with others WITHOUT being under the scrutiny of said formal clubs.

But I suppose this is the reason we have the 'report' button, to report any posts you may find offensive or defamatory etc, and myt favourite, the 'ignore list' of whihc I have subjected a few members to because of their un warranted and unwelcome challenges to my methods, take or otherwise. Not their loss I know, but rather for the benefit of myself as I no longer have to deal with their scrutiny.

Me, most of my weights are estimates, or at most taken from those manual scales, do I care? NO, but I like to think they are reasonably close to the fish's true weight. I don't measure much, unless I think it may be a new benchmark for myself, or if the smaller fish are biting and I am chasing a feed

[Marlin_Mike]

I have 2 things to say:

The size is never long enough and the weight is never heavy enough...............

[Pistol_P]

My only issue has been that when you mention to someone they are way off with their weights on fish everyone climbs on board and says.......'Oh come on give the bloke a break,this is why people dont post anymore'.....etc etc.....

People (and members I know well) arent posting on here anymore because of all the garbage like dudded up photos and bull **** reports etc....

Why is it that you cant correct someone who is wrong..?

Its an open forum and if someone is dudding up photos or calling fish for 15kg when they are 10etc of course people are gonna say something.

Like I said before it seems the only thing you are allowed to say is ' oh top fish...good on you mate...'

Pete

[disorderly]

Me, most of my weights are estimates,

I know a couple of other local fisho's that use this method...and some of their estimates are laughable....ie 6-8 kg spanish that suddenly grow to 15kg once filleted and freezed..

But whats so hard about weighing if you want to report on weights...?..stick em on a a lie detector and this arguement doesnt even exist....

It takes out any potential BS man...simple..

Scott

[jtpython]

I only weigh Prized fish..................... photo's tell the truth
Picture is worth a thousand opions
LOL

[Cammy]

It comes down to personal prefrence, if you dont like it dont post, bloody hell. If you have to post just to say, that the person is wrong and your right, well arent you just the champion.

Pb's and the like, are ones own goals.

If you had a 100cm barra and everyone thought it was only 90cm, who cares, it just matters that you know you got that 100cm barra.

Cam

[disorderly]

Pb's and the like, are ones own goals.

If you had a 100cm barra and everyone thought it was only 90cm, who cares, it just matters that you know you got that 100cm barra.

Cam

Yeah but how hard is it ,even if you dont have brag mat or scales to measure the fish against something ...ie the side of your boat,esky or even a bloody stick so that at least you can verify the size later...

Although I agree it doesnt really matter if its just for your own reference but if you want to "brag" about it then measure the bloody thing..

[PinHead]

I don't need a brag mat nor do I need scales..I cannot catch anything ..BUT..read the reports on here and accept them as they are written..someones account of their trip..does it really matter how accurate it is..if that person enjoyed their fishing then all is good.

[finding_time]

Well i really dont care if people have weights or not and for that matter photo's or not ! If a guy comes on and says he caught a 9 kg yellow sweetlip at the banks , i'll say good on him so what if he doesn't have a photo and so what if he's making the whole story up , who does it really effect? You do see alot of pics that state for example he's my 30kg spaniard when you and everybody else knows it's a 30 lb spaniard but again what does it really matter? Marlin are another fish that gets over estimated by the inexperienced alot, just listen to vhf 21 in summer and listen to all the boat that hook a billy and call it in the 70 to 90 kg range , now more than likely it's half that but hey there happy and excited so what does it really matter!

What does annoy me is when a member says he caught such n such a fish at a location but doesn't have a pic to back it up and gets jumped on by members who basically accuse the member of telling fibs!!!! Without proof these are very very ordinary accusations and whilst you may think them you should not post them, it's very poor form!! Also pictures are hardly proof as a good snap can make a smaller fish big and a poor pic make a big fish seem very small!

ian

[sleepygreg]

I am a member of ANSA (a life member of the one of the largest ANSA clubs in AUS), though that is not my current club,,,different state now,,,and a member of QGFA....in fact I am the secretary of one of the few fishing clubs that is affiliated with both. In fishing competitions for both these disciplines measurements both mass and length are critical and done on approved measuring devices, as well as many other criteria re tackle, line etc. I spend many hours officially scrutinising these things at tournaments, club weigh ins etc. I believe I can reasonably accurately estimate the weight of most fish that are commonly caught.....but thats after over 30 years of putting thousands of fish on the lie detectors and recording their weights (not for me...but for others). There are many others that have done the same as me...or have fished for specific species over a number of years and get pretty damned good at estimating weights and lengths. I have no problems with people insisting on accuracy if its in competition scenarios........but Ausfish is NOT a competition.

I am a member here because I like to read peoples stories about their fishing, maybe learn a few things (am always interested in learning), perhaps add to someones knowledge if I can offer a suggestion or advice from my experience, encourage those that like their fishing, and generally enjoy the normally friendly banter from the members on here.
I dont give a rats rectum if someone has obviously over or understated a length or weight on their fish.....especially if you are judging it from a photo. Nor if someone posts a catch that seems too good to be true, i have seen many 'too good to be true' catches live. I choose to believe or disbelieve, but no point in making an issue of it.
What really pees me off is that some members make a point of targetting someone they decide has posted something they dont like, or dont believe, and try to drive them off the site with their constant negative comments on any post they make....whether relevant to that post or not. And I have seen this happen with more than just one member.

vacating soapbox

Greg

[Jeremy]

Exaggeration of the size of the fish leads to a lack of credibility
Jeremy

I'll say it again, obvious lying, inaccuracies, poor estimates, whatever - lead to a lack of credibility which can stay with you for long after the post has been forgotten. Can be taken two ways - either you are a novice who does not have a good feel for fish sizes and weights by eye, or you are exaggerating deliberately.

I know I am not the only person who feels this way.

Never said anything about ausfish being competitive or having stringent rules either, just saying that is where I come from.

Jeremy

[NAGG]

How many of us are really good at estimating weight or length ....... I know I'm shocking at Weight but pretty good at length.
I don't weigh fish anymore as most fish are released but I do like to use a brag mat which is pretty accurate ....... more so for personal reasons , but it does allow me to say "I caught a 50cm folk bass or 120cm barra" .... & know that the length was correct.
Fish weights are difficult to say the least ....... & unless you have a calibrated quality scale that can weigh low & high weights the readings are often all over the shop - I've thrown away a couple of expensive salter spring scales over the years & more recently a digital balance because they were out of whack.
The other problem with weight (estimating) is the condition of the fish ...... I have recently seen barra come into the boat that while there was only a 2cm difference - one fish could be easily lifted while the other needed two & could barely be held........... I could see an argument occurring if I said one fish was 23kgs & the other was 35kgs
Finally , I guess I know where this topic came from !..... my view is that if you are going to state a weight or length & accompany it with a photo on a public forum - GET IT RIGHT!!!! ...... rightly or wrongly others will pick it up & question it .

Cheers

Chris