weighing fish

[goose89]

just trying to help the LOTW/Rainy River fishery.

PLEASE DON'T WEIGH LARGE WALLEYES FROM A HOOK (unless doing so in a net with the weight of the net subtract from it).

remember, these fish are mostly spawning females, with alot of eggs and others parts that were created to be suspended horizontilaly IN WATER.
take that fish out of water and many things change, especially large, big egg laden fish.

please, just measure a length and girth,take a photo or two HORIZONTALLY and go with what the "charts" tell you.
weighing a fishing from a hook vertically very is hard on them.

LENGTH & GIRTH, , NOT WEIGHT, matter today. i don't mean to offend, just offer some advice. later.

goose

[This message has been edited by goose89 (edited 03-29-2004).]

[This message has been edited by goose89 (edited 03-29-2004).]

[This message has been edited by goose89 (edited 03-30-2004).]

[seekingwalleye]

I agree... i hate to seeing people weighing there fish with scales... all you need is a length and girth measurement like you said.. besides... if you walleye fish.. you should be able to give a **** good quess at what the fish weighs.. and leave it at that... its those city people..

[Royal Dutchman]

Good point Goose!

What makes me cringe is when a guy is swinging this 30"er around, posing for pictures for ten minutes, and all the time with his fingers are ripping out the gills of that beautiful walleye factory!

Makes you wonder how that fish ranks in the survival rates. Good thing it's cold water.

In-Fisherman mag has a great article on C & R handling this month. I didn't realize knotted landing nets were so tough on them. Guess I'm just as ignorant as the "gill rippers"!

[Guest]

Easy there Seeking Walleye--blaming city people for mis-handling fish isn't FM friendly!

Got a beef with city dwellers? Seek Counseling...

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Chells

[gizmoguy]

rule of thumb. have the fish out of water as long as YOU can hold your breath.

[certified jumbo]

I really enjoy coming up and fishing the Rainy every spring, it is a blast and i hope we can continue fishing it in the spring for future years to come.

My only concern is that because the spring fishing is somewhat controversial on the rainy, we want to try to harm the fishery as little as possible so we don't further make spring fishing an issue. My point being, it probably doesn't look good when people see pics of big fish hanging from a digital scale with a hook through the fishes mouth. The opposers then say look at what is happening to the big females when they are caught.

Personally, this doesn't upset me to much, but i'm just looking out for the future of the spring fishery.

[Walleye Wegs]

Well said Jumbo we must protect it.

WW

[Fish Head]

Seeking Walleye- I'm sure you didn't mean to offend anyone, but that's just naive to think that it’s “city people” that are the problem. I live in the Twin Cities metro area and I am a VERY conscientious sportsman. I read the In-fisherman article and have purchased a new rubber net, just because of the article.

Conversely, my wife is from 10 miles outside of Grand Rapids, MN. It angers me that her brothers, her father and all their friends are all poachers in my book. They will keep 28” walleyes all day long and even more than their limit.

Now I don’t mean to slam the sportsmen in greater MN either. Believe me…. there are plenty of both conservation minded and dim witted sportsmen everywhere.

Fish Head

[Sandee]

Education and learn by example. I see many pictures of the "professional tournaments" where they bring in fish to the scales and release them. If you search the internet, you will see how the "pros" hold fish.

This is a PRO.

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Clementson Resort
Fishing on the Rainy River
in Lake of the Woods Area

[This message has been edited by Sandee (edited 03-30-2004).]

[Farley]

So what excatly happens to the insides of a fish when you hold it vertically?

[Wiskers]

Nothing happens to the insides of fish when you hold them up.. Have you ever seen fish under water durring spawn? They are darting and rolling and bouncing off rocks and debris. Watch the milking process of getting eggs for stocking.. Most fish are held upright and milked down.. It all comes down to connon sence.... Keep the fish out of the water as short as you can. Handle it with care. Fish are very hardy critters. As a matter of fact, fighting a large fish on light line for ever to get it to the boat will harm it more than holding it up for pics.. That is why I believe in useing line that will allow you to pull in the fish quickly before it is totaly exausted.

But There is nothing wrong with wanting to protect this awesome resource and we all should do our part. Fish on...............

City slicker?????????......LOL....Was he talking about you Fish head.. LOL... Darn highway cowboys LOL LOL LOL LOL

Is it summer yet????????

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Wiskers Guiding Service
Red River, Red Lake River & Minnesota River,for Channel Cats, Flatheads & Walleyes
Crookston, MN
[email protected]

218-280-0442

[This message has been edited by Wiskers Guiding Service (edited 03-30-2004).]

[Farley]

That's what I thought too, A fish can suspend in the water vertically so why can't you hold them vertically? I can see the point of not weighing them by hook for the reason that all the weight from the fish is resting on that hook and depending on what you hooked on to, it could do some damage, but I don't know about internal damage. Maybee I'm wrong though.

[fiskyknut]

I think Goose brings up a good point, not just for Walleyes but all fish. A fishes mass is supported differently in its watery environment than it is when being held out of the water. Handle them with care and support their midsections for photos.

fiskyknut