Estimating Weight of Largemouth Bass

tony93

I know there are formulas and such on doing this, but I just ran across this chart from the Texas State Department of Parks and Wildlife - might come in handy:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/fishboat/fish/recreational/catchrelease/bass_length_weight.phtml

*excerpt from page
This information is provided for those who wish to hold “paper” fishing events, releasing bass immediately after catch instead of holding them for weigh-in. Figures in the conversion table below represent average weights calculated from statistics on 3,178 Texas bass. By using this table, you can get a reasonable estimate of a fish's weight.

This method will never be as accurate as weighing on a certified scale, but it can be helpful at slot limit lakes, or for fishing clubs that wish to provide better care for bass during the hot summer months when fish are easily stressed.

Instructions

Measure the bass to the nearest eighth of an inch.
Go down the first (left-hand) column and locate the row corresponding to the length of your fish in whole inches.
In the “Fractions” columns across the top of the table, find the nearest eighth of an inch that matches the length of your bass.
Read down the column to find the estimated weight in pounds.
For example, you want to find the weight for a bass that is 18¼ inches long. Find 18 inches in the first column, then move across the table to the 1/4-inch column. Read the estimated weight of 3.46 pounds (3 pounds, 7.4 ounces).

*I tried to post the chart itself here, but it didn't work... Confused

michaelharris88 · Posted: Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:04 pm Post subject:

wow, thanks. i want to have kayak tournaments, so this will be very helpful when the livewell issue is presented. good stuff Very Happy

tony93 · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 1:44 pm Post subject:

I think this would be good info to sticky at the top of the bass section of the forum - how to do that? I dunno...

moderators? Question

meat7gtk · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 4:01 pm Post subject:

Just something to keep in mind though, these estimated weights will probably be on the high side cause this is based on Texas, which has a longer growth season. I wonder if New England/Massachusetts has a similar scale to work off of.

kman · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject:

In my opinion the weight chart stuff is bunk. I have caught the same size fish all over and sometimes the weight difference was drastic.

scales are cheap and small and the only way to know for sure.

meat7gtk · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 7:28 pm Post subject:

yea, I agree with you kman, but there probably is some kind of chart by region or something like that.

johnnybag-a-bass · Posted: Mon Mar 01, 2010 8:09 pm Post subject:

I personally don't really care how big it is as long as the fat pig feels like it's going to break my rod, then i'm happy!