BIG Fish or "NOT"!

In a lifetime of bass fishing and 26 years of it competitively, I have become pretty good at estimating the weight of not just a single fish but a 5 fish limit as well. I recently proved this to my new partner by guessing my bag within a couple ounces on several occasions and his 2 fish he caught at Falcon as both being just over 6. They were actually 6.26 and 6.04. I recently became a member of a couple of new fishing websites, I won't mention their names and noticed several guys posting weights of their fish that were WAY overstated. I understand that a guy new to bass fishing isn't really an "Expert" at guessing the size of fish very well but one guy in particular said his fish was over 6 lbs and 17 inches long! After reading this post and knowing I was going to cancel my membership to the site anyway, my OCD kicked in so I couldn't help but try to educate the guy about his fish being about half his stated weight. I tried doing it in a way as not to upset the guy or just come right out and call him a liar but he did get upset anyhow. Instead of saying I am new to bass fishing and not very good at guessing a fish's weight, he went on a long a** rant about me not knowing what I was talking about. Oh well, he's one of those guys that will come to a weigh-in with a bag of dinks and think he's got it won by 10 lbs just to discover his bag doesn't even weigh 10 lbs!! I have also noticed this trend in the Big Fish Picture section of Bassmasters Magazine lately. The past 2 issues contained pictures of several fish that had posted weights over 10 lbs and were lucky to be 6-7 pounders. Smallmouth showing to be over 6 & 7 lbs that maybe were 4-5 lbs. but the editor choose to include them anyhow. Has anyone else noticed this??

Yes.

Who cares, go do your thing and let liars be liars.

Most people who bass fish are not going to catch a fish over 9 pounds in their lifetime, so let the tell "their story", then blast them for being liars

yes sir. I see it all the time in Bassmasters and occasionally on fishing forums.. (Never this one of course :D)
You know the one that always seems to chap my hide is on bassmaster tv. Theyll have a 14in fish and say its 2.0lbs when a big 14 incher is a pound and a half or a 16in fish and say its 3.5 or something when we know they just don't weigh that much. I am not saying that their can't be one like that but they would need to literally be gorged. Happens all to often but not much you can do and hate to bust anyones bubble but they need to buy a scale..lol

As long as there are fisherman, there will be "big-eyers". No need to work yourself about it.

How big does the fish in my sig pic look? Haha.

I'm going with 11lbs 7 oz

I was going to say the same thing, I bet were pretty close

Not getting worked up, OCD doesn't allow me to just stand back and watch! LOL

You cheated...

Yea the bassmaster pics crack me up. There are 7-8 lb fish (usually from up north or in Florida) that weigh 12 lbs in bassmaster. They should know better and just now include those...

So every time I want to show a guy how much smarter I am than him,I can blame it on ocd??? j/k

What cracks me up is that they even include ounces in their bs guess.

I hate to say it.......but there is an art to taking fish pics.

East side guide, is that you?

That's "Mr. East Side Guide" to you!

A picture doesn't always give a real good indication of weight. I've been at this for 35 years and my own pictures fool even me some time, and I know the weight and size.
I know people will find ways not to be on the up and up but to get a pic in BASS your supposed to get a certified weight with affidavit of two witnesses. Seems like a lot to go thru to lie.
Why would anyone really care how the other guy gets his glory? Fish stories are fun.

Deer hunters are worse about it 2 to 8 is a 5yo 150.

I'd say about 11 1/2 pounds, plus or minus an ounce.

Hard to judge a bass on one picture. Look at the sharelunker pics. Some of the 13 lbers look 10 lbs and some of them look 15 lbs. I usually give the guys the benefit of the doubt on the forums. Tournament scales don't lie though.

LOL 1+

There is indeed a fine art to the big fish picture. Mess it up and you can make a 10 look like 6. Get it right and you can make a 6 look 10. I've nearly thrown a buddy in the lake before after he swore he took 10 pictures and they were all great. I checked his phone and find 4 and they are all garbage. I'm not advocating anyone be intentionally deceitful, but if you got a biggun' make sure you get a good picture!

Yes, bassmaster is particularly bad, there is always a fish or two in each edition that stands out like a sore thumb.

Ditto

Every fish I catch is a ten pounder until I get it in the kayak.

When you can see the whites of their eyes there big

To be honest , I won't read what you just wrote . Just be who you want to be, who cares

Sorry for the sideways pics....first off.

But, which one is heavier? Hint....the difference is almost 4 pounds.

It just goes to show that a picture can make or break a fish in the eyes of others.

The guy with the red PFD has the biggest fish and is the sharpest looking of the two men.

How big was Ike's ten pounder at the Classic? It looked pretty big.

The fish in the first pic is three inches shorter and weighed 8.90 certified at a big bass tourney at Joe Pool.
The second fish was 13.10 and was a rejected SAL candidate I caught on Waco last November. The "good looking" guy is 5'6" and weighs about a buck fifty. I'm 6' and weigh well over 200. And I'm looking down at my phone that is lying on the front deck. I took his pic from my bow as he stood on my back deck.

Pictures of bass can be made to look insanely good....or bad.

But lying is what makes fishin fun

I knew it was you Steez, was pulling your leg. Did think the other guy had the biggest fish though. Eyes looked bigger as well as the mouth.

I know. His fish LOOKS HUGE!!! It was a beautiful fish too. Dark and green. Caught in clear water. His fish was worth $1600 too. Mine was caught prefishing for a championship and other than bragging rights....it was only worth memories. I didn't donate it. I returned it thinking I could catch her again. Didn't happen.

Once heard a saying "all fishermen are liars, except for you and me... and I'm not so sure about you".


Pretty sure I read that on here.

Steez,

Those pictures make the point perfectly. In the first picture it shows the angler from mid shin Up. In the second picture it shows the angler from mid thigh up. Obviously the camera is further away in the first picture. I would have never guessed picture two is the larger fish.

Maybe I have a trained eye, but the blue shirt lower pic fish looks obviously huge to me- easily 12 plus, while the red looks about 8-9.
The point is true though, like Josh said- if you are fortunate enough to get a big fish take good pics.
It's still fishing and fish stories and exaggerated sizes will always occur.

X10000

Arm partially bent, camera lower than fish, but not by too much... promise i can make a 7 look 10 or a 10 look 7

That said, my buddies know if they dont have pic of fish on scale where i can read it... it doesnt count.

The one exception was a 10 weighed in at a tourney by my best friend... i believed it cause it was big bass lol

So how big do you think this one weighed?

I weighed it on a digital and boga scale. It visually looked bigger than what it weighed IMO.

Here is another thing I don't get, people "busting" pics for long-arming. I take pics to show off to buddies, I want it to look big, so I'm "long-arming"

I take a pic of the fish on the scale then several of the show pics.
There is an art to good pics but not ridiculously exaggerated ones.

Brent im gona say a heavy 7

Also once you get over say 8 lbs... ppl just suck at guessing cause they dont see enough fish that big to have a reference.

Exceptions to this rule... jerry at elm creek

Ps... if the person is from north of the mason dixon the line moves from 8lbs to 4 lbs

Funny but some of my best pics aren't pics but frame shots of a video.
Basically angles you don't normally think of.

Close, 8.7 on the digital and 9 on the boga.

I'm 6 ft 5 for perspective.

This is the same 13.10 fish, but the picture is taken from the wardens phone...and a picture I took of the wardens "helper" posing with the fish.

Fish looks a different weight in every picture to me.

When you can stick the anglers head into the fishes mouth, it's a big fish.

I'd always rather be and under guesser than over...

The fish's head being big doesn't always mean it is a heavy fish. I have caught 7 pounders that had a huge head but no body. These are typically the fish that guys catch and call ten pounders. I caught a 15 from Camelot Bell that had a small head and mouth for such a giant fish. Seriously, the fish had the head and mouth of a 8-9 pounder. I look at the girth of the fish down near the tail. My 15 had a girth at the tail fin that was the size of your forearm.

My neck is sore is all I got to say....great fish, also!

My phone stores them sideways....it hold more that way. Kind like stacking a cord of wood.

I sent a legit 11.64 in from Falcon, it was in the magazine as the big picture of the 8 or so for the month. I had to fill out more questions about the accuracy of the scale, witnesses etc.....

I too have seen some of those pics and wonder with all of the paper work and questions I had to fill out how some of those made it through? Less paperwork for a concealed handgun permit!

Waiting to see one of those guys say they caught a 13 and it be an 8

So what kind of comment is that??

If the the bass was caught on LAKE FORK it is an automatic 10 plus. It just is!
NOTE: With some guides the image in view may be presented larger than actual. LOL