What would you guess the weight of this fish was?

[Massachusettslargemouth]

Hey guys, I just signed up on this forum.  I've fished my whole life for largemouth and smallmouths, but since selling my business a few years ago, I got back into fishing as much as I used to when I was in high school and college and I have really been enjoying myself.  

 

Anyways, I was visiting my parents for the fourth of July and I figured I was going to hit this little stream where I spent countless hours fishing as a kid.  Well, I just brought my rod and some slug-gos, because I wasn't expecting anything too exciting. I left my tape measure and scale at home.  Of course, I ended up catching the biggest largemouth bass of my life.  Doing a quick measurement using my hands (pinky to thumb is around 8.5 inches), I got almost 3 hands.  My arm is slightly angled in the photos, but not by much.  My arm is 11 inches wrist to elbow.  My hands are medium sized.  From a very rough esimtation, I put that fish in at least 24 inches.  

 

Sorry for the goofy pics.  I was trying to take a picture with my left arm extended while trying to get both me and the fish in the same frame.  I also was not expecting to catch a big fish that day.

[N Florida Mike]

My guess would be 7-8 pounds.

Nice fish !

[Choporoz]

With a scale, it might go 5.  Without, it's whatever you want it to be.  That there is much more a kayak tournament bass, than a boat tournament bass.  She needs a sandwich. 

[The Baron]

Looks thin, but at 24" she's still got to be pushing 7# ?

[roadwarrior]

3 1/2, maybe 4lbs

[Pat Brown]

24" with a full belly and a healthy life would be 8 lb.  That one looks more 6.5-7 which is typical for the end of the summer before they put their weight back on!

 

Nice fish!

 

In the future:  cut fishing line off a rod and wrap the fish and cut it for girth and hold it straight parallel to the fish from tip to tail to get the length and save the line for when you get home.

[Darth-Baiter]

Nice fish.  Kinda skinny. 5lb. 
 

buy a scale     Maybe don’t and say it’s a 7. 

[Dwight Hottle]

That kind of a photo will get you estimates all over the board. It is almost impossible to give an accurate estimate. But to answer your question I'm guessing five plus lbs. 

[Skunkmaster-k]

5# 2oz

[Functional]

Im with most, long fish but doesnt have that fat on her. Id say solid 5 possibly could push to 6ish. 

 

EDIT: really nice fish though!

[Massachusettslargemouth]

6 hours ago, The Baron said:

Looks thin, but at 24" she's still got to be pushing 7# ?

Fish Relative Weight Calculator - Alabama Cooperative Extension System (aces.edu)

 

My guess was going to be close to 7, but I will confidentially say it was a 6 pounder.  I'm 99% positive this fish was at least 6 pounds.  It felt every bit of it picking it up.  According to most resources I found, a 24 inch fish is considered fat above 8.5 pounds and very thin under 7.  If I enter 5.5 pounds, it asks if I was correct about the weight.  

 

Too bad I didn't catch it one to two months earlier, but even then it probably would've only been half a pound heavier.  

 

Too many people focus on the fatness of the bass.  

 

 

 

 

[Swamp Girl]

There are some fishers who opined in this thread who have caught big bass beyond counting, like @Pat Brown, @roadwarrior, and @Dwight Hottle . I'd listen to them. 

 

 

[Pat Brown]

Bass weight is a funny thing.  I've caught the same fish 3 times over the course of 6 months at a small pond.  A very large aggressive female.

 

First time I caught her in early February at 6 am on a swim jig with a belly full of shad and some eggs still on board.  But she was not peak pre spawn weight.  She had clearly already been on bed and had a bloody tail. Caught in 1 foot of water.  9 lb 1 oz.

 

Second time was in April on a red lipless crankbait and she weighed 8 lb 12 oz.  Near the out take drain/vegetation line outside of the spawning flat.  Less belly but still 'girthy'.

 

Third time I caught her was in July on a hollow body frog and she weighed 7 lb 12 oz.  She was very spawned out....but not COMPLETELY spawned out....and was probably just beginning to feed back up.  A lot of big fish use this flat early in the day and late in the evening.

 

I actually hooked her a couple weeks later on a buzz toad and she got off right at the bank before I could weigh her a 4tb time.

 

I've spotted her hunting/waiting to ambush shad early in the day a few times since the last encounter but she is getting smarter.  

 

Crazy part is this fish isn't the biggest I've seen on the pond by a long shot....just a very aggressive fish.

 

But yeah.  They can actually vary in size quite a bit.  Especially large fish.

 

Measuring the fish with a scale or fishing line is always better than eyeballing it but I'd say it's a beautiful fish and a monster.  It's  impossible for any of us to accurately guess it's weight from your picture.  Congratulations on that awesome fish and keep going.  The big fish flood gates have opened up for you and I'm sure you're gonna upgrade that one in no time. ??????

[GreenPig]

5 - 5.5

[Swamp Girl]

9 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

Bass weight is a funny thing.  I've caught the same fish 3 times over the course of 6 months at a small pond.  A very large aggressive female.

 

First time I caught her in early February at 6 am on a swim jig with a belly full of shad and some eggs still on board.  But she was not peak pre spawn weight.  She had clearly already been on bed and had a bloody tail. Caught in 1 foot of water.  9 lb 1 oz.

 

Second time was in April on a red lipless crankbait and she weighed 8 lb 12 oz.  Near the out take drain/vegetation line outside of the spawning flat.  Less belly but still 'girthy'.

 

Third time I caught her was in July on a hollow body frog and she weighed 7 lb 12 oz.  She was very spawned out....but not COMPLETELY spawned out....and was probably just beginning to feed back up.  A lot of big fish use this flat early in the day and late in the evening.

 

I actually hooked her a couple weeks later on a buzz toad and she got off right at the bank before I could weigh her a 4tb time.

 

I've spotted her hunting/waiting to ambush shad early in the day a few times since the last encounter but she is getting smarter.  

 

Crazy part is this fish isn't the biggest I've seen on the pond by a long shot....just a very aggressive fish.

 

But yeah.  They can actually vary in size quite a bit.  Especially large fish.

 

Measuring the fish with a scale or fishing line is always better than eyeballing it but I'd say it's a beautiful fish and a monster.  It's  impossible for any of us to accurately guess it's weight from your picture.  Congratulations on that awesome fish and keep going.  The big fish flood gates have opened up for you and I'm sure you're gonna upgrade that one in no time. ??????

 

This post is so informative. Thanks, Pat. And it ends with such grace and optimism too. All of us at BR are lucky to have Pat Brown cyber-fishing beside us. 

[gimruis]

19 hours ago, Massachusettslargemouth said:

Too many people focus on the fatness of the bass.  

I agree, its a obsession that some have.  That's why I mostly measure mine instead.  And since you already know its 24 inches, just go with that.  I've never caught one remotely close to being that big here in MN.

[Swamp Girl]

A 24"-bass, which is far longer than any bass I've ever caught, would weigh, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife, 8.52 pounds. So, I goggled "8.5-pound bass" and found this video, which gives you lots of looks at an eight and a half pound bass. Focus on her belly and her head compared to the young man's hand and note her depth too. Like your bass, she's not bulging with recent feeds, but she sure is deep, which is another way to add weight:

 

 

5 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I agree, its a obsession that some have.  That's why I mostly measure mine instead.  And since you already know its 24 inches, just go with that.  I've never caught one remotely close to being that big here in MN.

 

Gimruis, your Minnesota bass look like Maine bass: footbally, but not long. I expect it's because we're both catching bass halfway between the equator and North Pole.

[gimruis]

@ol'crickety that thing is enormous.  And out of a HOA pond too?  Even more impressive.

[Catt]

Some of y'all say that's over 5#, what y'all think this is?

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Catt
Fingers faster than the brain

[Swamp Girl]

10 minutes ago, Catt said:

Some of y'all say over 5#, what y'all think this us?

 

 

 

My guess is that it weighs big. 

[Pat Brown]

It just goes back to 'you can't tell from a picture'

 

Perspective is a weird thing.  I'm gonna guess 8# @Catt but really hard to say 

 

Gotta put it on a scale and tell us!  I can't see how wide it is or how long it is in a picture and how fat it is DOES play into it's weight.  Point being.  Only person who can say for sure is a person with a scale!  ???

[Functional]

Im gunna say 4.5ish @Catt   ? Just based on how far your fingers wrap on that fish holding it. I feel like most my 4ish lb bass my hand looks similarly placed.

[Mike L]

@Catt

Looking at the girth compared to just before where the tail starts…

 

7 on the low side 8.5 on high end

 

Or Not ?

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Massachusettslargemouth]

7 hours ago, gimruis said:

I agree, its a obsession that some have.  That's why I mostly measure mine instead.  And since you already know its 24 inches, just go with that.  I've never caught one remotely close to being that big here in MN.

Massachusetts isn't known for big bass either, if you catch a huge one here.....it is an old fish since they grow at a slower rate than in the south.  It also seems that we don't get quite the big beer belly bass that the southern states get. 

To give you an idea, the biggest bass I caught prior to that one was a 19 inch bass that I measured at just under 4 pounds (I actually had my scale with me that time).  I believe it was 3 pounds 11 ounces if I remember correctly.  I was completely unprepared to catch anything special that day as it was just a random stop at my childhood fishing spot.  

It always seems I have better luck fishing with poorly planned, spur of the moment stops.  

[Pat Brown]

39 minutes ago, Massachusettslargemouth said:

Massachusetts isn't known for big bass either, if you catch a huge one here.....it is an old fish since they grow at a slower rate than in the south.  It also seems that we don't get quite the big beer belly bass that the southern states get. 

To give you an idea, the biggest bass I caught prior to that one was a 19 inch bass that I measured at just under 4 pounds (I actually had my scale with me that time).  I believe it was 3 pounds 11 ounces if I remember correctly.  I was completely unprepared to catch anything special that day as it was just a random stop at my childhood fishing spot.  

It always seems I have better luck fishing with poorly planned, spur of the moment stops.  

 

 

It is actually my experience that the football shape is more common up north where you see less stunted bass and bass that are less hammered by people because of the long period of rest they get under ice every year.  

 

It is not uncommon this time of year regardless of where you are in the US to catch bass that are a little deflated looking because in most cases, they have just gotten done spawning for the past 4 months and are in recovery mode.

 

@ol'cricketyis from Maine and fishes bogs and every bass she catches looks like a linebacker from the 86 Bears.