has anybody heard this before?

[LANGER]

i was told the other day by a guy that i always thought of as a pretty educated bass fisherman, that when you catch a fish that is just under the length limit (like a quarter of an inch or less ) to go ahead and keep it. he said that during the fight a fish will tense up and kinda cramp a little, but once in the livewell it will relax and gain that length right back. never had the guts to try it but i was wondering if it was a myth or if it really works.

kj

[FishinMommy]

Never heard that one but a good tip is to measure the fish on both sides cause one side can be longer than the other

[Bassin_Dude]

i wouldnt even think of doing it.....thats asking for trouble.....when bass get into a live well they loose weight.....they dont get bigger.

[sabass]

I just step on them till they measure up.

[LANGER]

bassfisher you are right i know they lose weight, but what about length? i wouldn't do it either but i was wondering if anybody has heard about it or not.

kj

[Bassin_Dude]

i seriously hope your kidding rodman.

[sabass]

think about it.

[keeb]

im all catch and release so i dont have to worry about that crap.

[FishinMommy]

I got it Rod you kill them then you say its alright to keep them because there dead anyways :

Rod, the weigh master will give you a really strange look when your fish have foot prints on them.

[NorthNJangler]

I wouldnt recommend that, I caught a bass when I was kid that 14 3/4 in, the minimum size limit had just changed to 15 in on the lake I was fishing. Game warden came by and gave my dad a ticket for it.

[notabassmaster]

I must say, that may be the craziest thing I have ever heard. I sure hope the guys I fish against try this at the next tourney, those deductions for undersized fish can really add up. Tight lines

[NorthNJangler]

I dont see how they say bass relax in the livewell, because dont they usually lose some weight in there because of stress

[coolman]

Quick question i dont fish from a boat so i dont have a live well but how do they lose weight?? Do they crap themselves or something? ???

[Bassin_Dude]

they sweat and stress.......they sweat alot making them lose weight.

[profishermenkid16]

They also throw up craws and anything else in their stomaches alot too. P N J

[YoungFisher678]

Jordon09, that's not crap, Most of us catch and release, but they have to be legal length to weigh in, I guess you don't fish tourney's.

[Fishin4theday]

I have seen this. A bass barly measures when ypou catch it. A hour later if it is not stressed to much iy will go 1/8 inch over the line on the belly board.This is not every tiome but I have seen it. I also know of guys bringing in nshort fish because they thought this would happen. Suppose this , You cath a bass that is 1/32 of and inchy short. You think that when its muscles relax it will get longer. Thirty min later the warden checks your fish. You have a short fish in the live well. Busted.
You would have to be stupid to use this as a norm. I dont think it always woprks and if you have 5 in the box and are moving a lot they may tense more. Fish2win

[LANGER]

well i get the feeling you guys think i am an idiot that would try this, trust me i'm not. i just thought it would be interesting to know if they really did relax like this or not. i agree that it would be a bad idea to try and thanks for all the input..

kj

[dave_in_fl]

Yes it does work sometimes, no its not legal and if you get caught while waiting on him to "grow" by the game warden you will get a ticket for more than the tournament winnings (most likely)

The thing about measuring both sides of the fish is your best bet, sometimes a fish that wont go on one side is over on the other.

The best thing is to make sure and catch fish big enough you dont even need to measure them ;D

[jglassguy]

Being a former tournament director for 4 years , I have seen many bass weighed and the length recorded, on a golden rule, the tip of the bass lips with the mouth close , butts up to the end of the ruler that is degrees
at one end, goes out to around 30 inches, you lay the bass on there and don't pinch the tail together..
Its in the BASS rules you cant do that to the tail because it gives you more length, usually a fraction of a inch, (1/16th, 1/8th if your extremely lucky)
and Yes Rodman, we always here about the guys that step on them to make them longer, esp. if they are weighing in a dead fish, which there is a penalty for doing, but you still come out ahead,
Most of the time the angler does nothing wrong, puts it in the livewell and aerates it, but on hot summer days and if you get lots of fish in the well, they come up dead.
Most important part about this reply is that bass shrink in the livewell, esp with hot weather..
Theres many a bass I see at weigh in that are just exactly slot size , state minimum when the caught it,
now they didn't recheck and it shrank 1/4 inch..
If ya ever think you have a border line case you can ask to measure it up there before the director does..
The best tournaments only have 2 guys weighing, one records , the other does the basket loading,
and a separate guy does all the measuring,,
If ya keep everyone else out of it, ya get more consistency 8)