last week, i tried a little pond right on the side of the road in a neighboring state.  it's one of the few not posted, so i assumed it was ok to fish.  i caught a few decent ones, but one of them was a nice 4 1/2 lb largie

 

  

 

i went back there today, and fished a few hours before the rain came down in buckets.  i caught a few  1 lbers on a buzz bait, then switched to "old reliable" the fire tiger spinnerbait.  i caught a nice 5lber

  

 

today a lady who lives in the house next to the pond came out with her dog, i waved, and she waved back.  i am taking that as my sign that it's ok to fish there as long as i'm respectful.  i never see anyone else there, so i dang sure ain't tellin nobody where it is!  hahahaha

 

i want to ask you all a question:  do you think google is accurate in telling me how big these fish were?  i ask it " how much does a 20.5" bass weigh?" and it says 5 lbs 1 oz. the other was 19.5" and it said 4lb  4 oz.  i don't have a scale yet, so this is the best i can do for now

Try the calculator on this site. 
it’s as accurate as any

 

 

 

Mike

Real nice. 

6 hours ago, Mike L said:

Try the calculator on this site. 
it’s as accurate as any.

Mike

it asks for girth, which i did not measure

 

Length is only half the equation, girth of the fish is equally important.

 

For example; a normal 20" fish here will be in the 5lb range, but I've had skinny 20" fish barely top 3 pounds and some fat 20 inchers go nearly 6 pounds.

 

I'd say that fish is on the average side and right in that 5lb range.

11 hours ago, cheezyridr said:

18 hours ago, Mike L said:

Try the calculator on this site. 
it’s as accurate as any.

Mike

it asks for girth, which i did not measure

 

The BR calculator will make an estimate of girth.  This is what it calculated for 20.5:

 

However, this is a chart from the Texas Parks & Wildlife:

 

 

 

14 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Length is only half the equation, girth is equally important.

 

 

i'm not gonna say it, but you know what i'm laughing at right now ?

On 8/30/2020 at 1:35 PM, cheezyridr said:

i'm not gonna say it, but you know what i'm laughing at right now ?

Couple that with the title of this thread and it gets real interesting in a hurry....

On consecutive days last week, I caught a 21 inch LMB that weighed 4.25, and a 19 inch football that weighed 6

Well I have no idea how big those fish are, but I caught one today and figured it was probably about 3lbs max (didn't think it was long enough to be that much more), but it may have been similar on my rod as the second one you have there so it probably was bigger than I thought. I do always estimate my weights very conservatively for the record. I wish I brought my scale - wasn't expecting anything too big in the pond I was fishing, but I will say when it hit my bait it just stopped in place like it was a big fish.

Cheezy, you have not been getting lucky, you have been getting better.

 

Congrats on those catches. You did great.

 

Keep up the good work and sooner or later you will be in the Bassmaster Classic.

 

As for weight, as stated above, use any calculator you want and then lie about it by adding a few ounces or pounds.

 

There is a specific formula to use the girth and length to estimate a bass' weight but I forgot it.

 

Keep on fishing and catching those 7 pounders!!!!!!!

Nice fish for sure!  I remember when I bought my first scale, it was love / hate...   I'm glad I have one, but until I physically saw, and weighed enough fish to train my brain it always shocked me how big a 5lb bass really was.  I quickly realized every 5lber I caught up til then only weighed 3.5lbs ?

15 minutes ago, KayakJimW said:

Nice fish for sure!  I remember when I bought my first scale, it was love / hate...   I'm glad I have one, but until I physically saw, and weighed enough fish to train my brain it always shocked me how big a 5lb bass really was.  I quickly realized every 5lber I caught up til then only weighed 3.5lbs ?

You're not alone. Most "5lb" bass weigh about 3 lbs on a scale.

 

 

On 9/10/2020 at 2:18 PM, roadwarrior said:

You're not alone. Most "5lb" bass weigh about 3 lbs on a scale.

 

 

that's the most perfect gif for this thread

I've been fishing every day since it started cooling off some, caught a possible 6lb bass can't say how long it actually was just guesstimated it broke off in the weeds when I got it to the bank, sure was fun reeling it in, my first catch on a lipless strike king red eye. I went shopping for more crank baits and had one take my lewis rattle trap from me sung my reel and broke the line.  I refuse to stop finese fishing! 

today, i caught a REAL MONSTER!   after trying my swimbait, a swim jig,  a buzzbait, and  only getting a few taps, i put on ol' reliable: the firetiger spinnerbait. 2 or 3 casts in,  as soon as it hit the water, the line went tight, and the rod bent into a sharp C shape. i set the hook, and it was all i could do to turn this monster around.  this thing was trying to stay down,  and was fighting harder than anything i ever hooked.  i was really excited. this must be the biggest bass of my life!  soon i realized it wasn't pulling like a bass...

after about a minute of fighting,  i finally saw what it was:  

 

an 18" diameter snapping turtle! hahahahaha  that's never happened to me before.