9 minutes ago, Rockhopper said:

Doing some reading on these I have a question. Can you tare (zero) the Kast King mentioned above?

Ya - just a quick press of the power button tares the scale....longer press to power off

@gim I've never calibrated any of my scales. But if I catch one close to 15.6 lbs(my lakes record) or over 22 lbs I'll be locating certified scales. When I used fish tournaments I'd compare a fish weighed on the calibrated scales to my scale and they've always been close enough for me.

On 3/2/2026 at 7:10 PM, BigAngus752 said:

All weights go back to ONE SINGLE SCALE IN HISTORY that was randomly assigned a calibration by some guy that said, "That rock weighs 16 ounces" and no one knew what he was talking about because he invented the word "ounce". Now we have weight.

Thanks BigAngus, being retired I now lead the contemplative life, one more thing to ponder.

This goes along with whomever invented the clock, how did they know what time it was

I've been thinking about getting a scale, but it just becomes one more thing for me to forget to bring.

@Rockhopper -- I just received the Kast King scale today -- in the instructions is states "Press and hold "M" button for 3 seconds" to "Tare"/Zero the weight/s

I am going to change out the metal hook for a plastic gripper (I have a few of them laying around so no extra cost to me to add that to the scale)

We still have about a foot and a half of ice on the lake here -- so it will be a while before I get to try it on the water/with a fish -- but I will look to check how it works by clipping it to some items/small weights

Great information here. I use a simple Berkely digital fish scale. Every once and a while I will test out just to make sure it's close.

@A-Jay, I really like your set up with the fish-grips. Good idea!

But I will refrain from posting pictures on a certain Musky forum using that grip...I got put on full BLAST for using that grip, and potentially hurting fish.

** ...I still use it when landing the big, toothy predators **

As far as storage goes, pro tip. Get a waterproof storage container. This one was like 8 bucks at the auto parts store. They are worth it and will prevent your scale from getting moisture in it and failing. You can even go one step further and throw a desiccant pack from a Tylenol bottle or something and add an extra layer of moisture resistance.

I have a plastic container (think Tupperware, but cheaper) that holds my admittedly cheap electronic scale. I keep a couple of those silicone packets in with the scale, and have never had a problem. After a trip I open the container and let it air out to make sure the scale drys out completely.
My last scale died because I used it one too many times in a total downpour. Not much I could do about that as I am a bank fisherman and don't usually have a sheltered area to weigh my fish. I suppose that the more expensive scales hold up better in really wet conditions, but I just can't bring myself to spend the money on one of those when I would most likely lose it or drop it. The cheap ones work well enough for me as I only really want a "close enough" weight anyway.

1 hour ago, Kirtley Howe said:

I have a plastic container (think Tupperware, but cheaper) that holds my admittedly cheap electronic scale. I keep a couple of those silicone packets in with the scale, and have never had a problem. After a trip I open the container and let it air out to make sure the scale drys out completely.
My last scale died because I used it one too many times in a total downpour. Not much I could do about that as I am a bank fisherman and don't usually have a sheltered area to weigh my fish. I suppose that the more expensive scales hold up better in really wet conditions, but I just can't bring myself to spend the money on one of those when I would most likely lose it or drop it. The cheap ones work well enough for me as I only really want a "close enough" weight anyway.

The Bubba lite I use is water resistant and costs about 50 bucks. I don't know your budget but for the money it's a pretty good value. Connects to your phone and tracks your fish through the Bubba app and even has a facebook like social media page attached to the app where you can share your catches.

19 hours ago, DaubsNU1 said:

But I will refrain from posting pictures on a certain Musky forum using that grip...I got put on full BLAST for using that grip, and potentially hurting fish.

** ...I still use it when landing the big, toothy predators **

The issue there isn’t simply using those. That’s perfectly fine. Holding them vertical by that gripper is the issue because of the fish’s weight. Best to support them from underneath.

The gripper keeps your hands out of the teeth. Especially there’s hooks in the teeth too.

Add me to the list of KK scale users. $21 with clip (not hook) bought 2 1/2 years ago.

Still on Amazon (Wide View Floating) for nearly same price now.

@Choporoz -- I just bought the KK scale last week on Amazon -- $11 -- some sort of "Flash Sale" - Good to hear you are enjoying it and that it is working out well for you -- I look forward to trying it and hope to experience the same results as you

Same. I am going to give it a try. If it sucks or fails quickly it is only $11. Hoping it is close to accurate. I will test it. I have a few clamps laying around to ditch the hook.

On 3/5/2026 at 5:33 PM, IYAOYAS said:

The Bubba lite I use is water resistant and costs about 50 bucks. I don't know your budget but for the money it's a pretty good value. Connects to your phone and tracks your fish through the Bubba app and even has a facebook like social media page attached to the app where you can share your catches.

Maybe as a birthday present if I hint strongly enough....But I really don't ever plan on spending more than about $15 for a scale that I would lose or otherwise kill.

Well, the $11 KK arrived. So far so good. Tested it on multiple known weights and it is consistently about 2% light on the reading. Doesn't seem to matter if it is 2lb or 10lb, scale accurately measures 2% light every single time.

2lbs reads 1.96, 5lbs reads 4.9lbs, 10lbs reads 9.8lbs.

So, I will just assume that I will add 2% to whatever fish I weigh and that should be close enough for my needs. Hopefully this one will last a little longer. The whole reason I chose this was because of the advertised waterpoofness.

2 hours ago, Rockhopper said:

So, I will just assume that I will add 2% to whatever fish I weigh

I say add 5% for your trouble. Actually, you're a good fisherman. Make it 10%.

I just bought this mainly because it has the plastic cam gripper, two triple A batteries and it was on sale!

Also got the accu cull scale. Seems OK, Had it for a couple of years. Also added the gripper.

I keep a couple of the $8 Amazon scales on the boat.