inches compared to weight size question

[BassBest]

Sounds like a female that just pigged out on the late fall shad runs, smallies weigh a ton anyways but females are use to gorging until their bellies sink them to the bottom. The G(squared) x L divided by 800 = w formula is correct but on heavy fish it could be off a pound. My thoughts.

[Rowdy]

I dont think this formula is right. I should only weigh 148 lbs!
Just 100 lbs. lite! lol!!!
Rowdy

[TEE]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-03-06 AT 07:07AM (EST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-03-06 AT 07:06*AM (EST)[/font]

Sorry to report but, know this for a fact....Formula's are only guesstimate's and are not necessairly accurate. I've caught a 19" smally outta Dale last year that was pushing 4 1/2 last year and have also caught 21" fish that only weighed 4.9 oz.
Shorter fish that look like footballs at Erie are the norm and a 20" fish there can be a monster.
I think it all depends on the geographic area...a 20 to 21" fish at Dale could be anywhere from 4 to 6 lbs. most of the time.

[BassBest]

I see your point, but formula is a measure of GIRTH and lenth. A 21" males will weigh 4lbs while a 21" female will weigh 6-10 lbs depending on the girth. With fish over 10 pounds the weight may be off a LITTLE. But otherwise the formula is very close. It's all about girth.

[Dave Stewart]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-04-06 AT 07:17AM (EST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-04-06 AT 03:44*AM (EST)[/font]

Maybe you did not read this whole string..but when using this so called "close formula" the fish in question would have weighed a little over 10lbs...and the person that caught it says himself that the fish was no way that good. If you use this formula on the current world record smallmouth then it would have weighed 15.83lbs instead of the actual 11lbs 15oz. So much for this formula..better buy some scales.

[BassBest]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-06-06 AT 09:44PM (EST)[/font][p]The formula is off on fish over 10 pounds but I would expect that much. But think about this. The fish, we know is a female, was caught in July after she spawned out, since the biggest fish move first, the stretching of the eggs added to the girth, but after spawn left no weight in the belly, I've seen a that looked over 6 lbs to everyone, but at the scales it was 4.89, you could feel a huge nothing when pushing on the belly, couldn't that be an exception, that recently spawned females would have a peroid of "flab" to add to girth but not weight. Just a thought. WOW, could you imagine how hard it would be to beat that record if the fish was caught during spawn?

[Dave Stewart]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-06 AT 11:24AM (EST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jan-07-06 AT 04:46*AM (EST)[/font]

In your words..."if the fish weighs over 10 lbs it may be off by a LITTLE"....in this case it was off by 4lbs...that is not a LITTLE. As far as imagining how long it would take to break the record if the fish had spawn out...I don't know that the fish was spawned out...it is not usual for a fish to spawn in the summer time but it does happen now and then....anyway, the record has stood for 50 years...that in my mind makes it pretty hard to break.

[TEE]

Dave...this is one subject I do find very interesting.
My wife caught a 4 lb 13 oz. smally that measured about 19 1/2" and this year nailed a 5 lb. 9 oz.(same digital scales) and we pulled out the pictures and compared them and I swear the smaller fish looks much bigger...you'd swear it was 6 for sure if someone hadn't said so.
Caught a 19" fish myself last year that was just shy of 5 and was by far the fattest smally I've caught and that includes the "footballs" I've caught at Erie...go figure....

[Dave Stewart]

I know what you mean...I usually can guess a bass' weight pretty close as I see a lot of them in my business but I have on a number of occassions been surprised when I put the fish on a scale....sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller. I have even taken my scale and checked it for accuracy with a known weight after a fish has fooled me just to make sure my scale was not wrong....lol.

[jigman73]

Their is another formula that is for Bass (LxLxG)/1200.
(21.75x21.75x19.25)/1200=7.589
Do with it what you want, and take it however you want, just thought that I would share this with you all as it may be a "little" closer to the actual weight than the general formula used for all fish.

Lee

[Dave Stewart]

This formula shows the world record smallie to be 13.1 lbs...certainly not exact but certainly a lot closer than the other formula....probably a pretty good formula for quick reference...thanks.

[yogio]

Buy a boga grip. They have accurate weight to the quarter oz.You can send them off to be certified for state records etc. I have one that weighs up to 15 lbs and another up to 30 lbs. I didn't spend the money to have them certified, but a 5 lb and 10 lb bag of sugar is a perfect way to check them as are other various known weights about the home.