Should you weigh a fish?

[Toney]

I stopped weighing fish that I'm going to release. I really think that we are doing damage to the fish when we weigh them. I even looked into a cradle to weigh them in but it all seems like it will cause stress to the fish. Why do we really care what it weighs? I've started guessing the weight and I never take the fish out of the water anymore. Thoughts?

[Tnstratos283]

Not a bad ideal at all. I have been told that back a few weeks ago when it was so hot, that rock fish and stripers when lifted out of the water for just a few minutes to admire them would not survive no matter how much care you took with them. If you do pull one (bass)up to weigh them or just to take a quick look I do think it is best to lip them only and not handle them on their sides to protect their slime coat to keep from bacteria forming on them and finally leading to their slow and painful death. On the other hand too...I don't keep bass anymore..and spieces, but a crappie or legal walleye will find his way into my livewell for sure

[CTFSHWHISKER]

with out a doubt the more you handle them the harder it is i'm sure.when growing up in a tournament enviroment i was always told to lip them and not rub them to remove the slime,now when i watch tournaments on tv i see them play with the fish flop them on carpet that would burn bare feet and those culling things that have a stringer snap on the end,that i refuse to use because our fish here on the local lakes usually already have a few extra holes in their mouth and when i see people use them the fish usually have a huge red bloody hole in their mouth.My boat like most of today has 2 livewells and i have no problem culling fish with my trout net.maybe they spread out the released fish so when they do die they are scattered and doesn't look so bad,out of site out of mind..jmo

[RoadToad]

Couldn't agree more. But if you do want to weigh and release fish, invest in one of those lip grabber/digital scale combos they sell. Between that and a good set of pliers, you can lip the fish, weigh it, remove the hook, and release the fish without ever touching it. The scales are supposedly very accurate; I've heard you can even get them certified.

[Moose1am]

This thread gives me great hope! Thanks for sharing your ideas guys.

It's fun to be able to catch fish and return them in good health back to the water where some one can catch them another day. Or where they can reproduce and fill the lake with their offspring for our kids to catch.

Good job.

One thing I would like to see for tournament weigh ins is a water well that's on the scale. That way you can tare out the weight of the water and the container on the scales and then add the fish to the water. The extra weight is that of the fish.

This method of weighing bass has been used recently as I have seen it on a TV program that covered one of the bass fishing contests. Keeping the fish in a big live well in the boat and then using the new carrying bags to bring the fish to the weigh in table is a great idea. Using oxygen generators in the live wells, carrying bags and in the holding tanks also helps to keep the fish healthy.

We are loosing a lot more fish than we though by handling them too much or jerking them out of the water and letting them land on the boat deck's carpet. That is no way to keep a fish alive.

Now if you want to keep some crappie for supper just put them on ice in the live well when you catch them. They are a lot easier to clean when they are almost frozen and the flesh won't spoil in the hot summer.