Measuring a fish

Today there are many different tools available to measure a fish. Have you ever wondered what forumlas are being used to perform these calculations? What do you do if you do not want to pay $40+ for one of those fancy fish scales? Read on and you find out exactly what you need to do to estmiate a fish's weight. There are many formulas that we can use to make these calculations. If you dont want to do the math, the FishingGeek has provided us with a fish weight calculator that does all of the crazy math for us.

To make use the formulas, you will need, of course, a fish. Now let's not forget there are certain techniques to properly handle your fish without harming it. If you are not keeping the fish, be sure to take your measurements and get the fish back into the water as soon as you can. Doing so will reduce the amount of stress on the fish so that it may live to fight again.

Now that you have the fish out of the water, find a flat surface to lay it on. Laying the fish on a flat surface ensures that we get the most accuracte measurement as possible. When measuring the fish, make sure you are not using one of those flexible rulers. Personally, I find that those sticker rulers that go on the side of your cooler works best.

Measure the fish from the snout to the tail (pinched). It is important to know the regulations when measuring a fish. Some fish are mesasured to the fork, and others the tail must be pinched. Remebering to pinch the tail could save you a ticket for taking a fish of illegal size. Now you have the total length of the fish.

Next we will need to determine the girth. The girth of the fish is the total measure around the widest point on the fish. Using a string is probably the best way to do this. Wrap the string around the fish and mark where the string meets the other end. Lay the string down on your ruler and measure from the end of the string to your mark.

Now, we can plug the total length and girth measurements into the formulas to get an estimate of the fish's weight. If you don't care about the formulas, plug your estimates in the calculator below.