Dead or alive.. When to weigh in your fish in a tournament?

[hondo573]

I have been fishing trout tournaments for a while now. I have had Some success in placing in tournaments and a whole bunch of near misses. I have always tried to keep the fish alive as long as possible and if im hitting fish i keep fishing. When i get to a point where the bite slows or dies i usually will run in and weigh the fish. Of course at some of these points the trout has died. With some of these situations ive had fish weigh a bit less then when i weighed them after first being caught. #1 I was wondering whats everyones take on leaving your spot running the fish in immediatly after being caught or wait till your morning trip is over. #2 any information on how much or how fast fish may loose weight if it does die. #3. Whats the best way to keep a fish to avoid any or minimal weightloss over time untill you can get to a tournament scale

 

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[alex1young]

I've always wondered the same things!

[Sk8man]

Just a comment from someone who has been knocked out of places a few times two of which were by 1/100 th of a pound.- Put the fish immediately on ice or a livewell and head for the weight station if you think it is a money fish. They do lose weight soon after dying especially if they dehydrate and after they poop or spit up bait etc and it can make all the difference sometimes. I had an additional unsettling episode at last year's Canandaigua Lake Trout Derby. I caught my derby winning fish at about 6 AM and the weigh station didn't open until 8 AM sowe were stuck keeping it on ice and waiting  until the guy came and opened the weigh station and the guy couldn't understand why I might be a bit uptight about it You also may not want them real lively and flopping around on the scale either as the weight measurement may be inaccurate (been there too).

Edited May 22, 2017 by Sk8man

[hondo573]

Just a comment from someone who has been knocked out of places a few times two of which were by 1/100 th of a pound.- Put the fish immediately on ice or a livewell and head for the weight station if you think it is a money fish. They do lose weight soon after dying especially if they dehydrate and after they poop or spit up bait etc and it can make all the difference sometimes. I had an additional unsettling episode at last year's Canandaigua Lake Trout Derby. I caught my derby winning fish at about 6 AM and the weigh station didn't open until 8 AM sowe were stuck keeping it on ice and waiting  until the guy came and opened the weigh station and the guy couldn't understand why I might be a bit uptight about it[emoji38] You also may not want them real lively and flopping around on the scale either as the weight measurement may be inaccurate (been there too).

Ive been bumped out of spots in the seneca derby many of times and the canandaigua one once. I wondered if it did make a difference that i waited a litttle bit instead of picking up and running in immediatly

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[Finders Keepers]

Definitely makes a difference, and as mentioned every fraction of an ounce can count! In some situations running in isn't possible, but if it's a money fish running in and losing fishing time is one of those decisions made during an event that can make it or break it for ya sometimes! Ideally, keep them alive as long as possible using water changes (if you don't have a livewell with circulating water) and aeration system. When fishing for salmon, we'll keep the fish on ice to preserve them as much as possible.

[nlong27]

I'm not a very religious person however i do believe in fate, if that makes sense. If it was meant to be it was meant to be. I say keep fishing and weigh your big one in when you're done. Who knows? Maybe you get a bigger one than you already have!


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[nlong27]

Best thing you can do if you are going to continue fishing, if you are really worried about weight is keep the fish alive as long as possible. Next best thing is enough water to cover the fish to keep it moist and plenty of ice to keep it cold.


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[Fishstix]

I usually put them in a plastic garbage bag then put them on ice. Also if you put them upside down it seems to keep the poop in better . They are not so pretty when you weigh them with all that crap and slime stuck to the outside but Ive also lost in derbies by ounces.

  Headed to the weigh station  in Sodus several years ago with a salmon . Waited probably an hour  stopped in traffic because there was a foot race going on. Tense moments.

[fisherdude]

great question to ask . i have a good size live well in my saber . in the spring time i can keep fish alive all day long by keeping the pump running non stop . i have a hard time quitting fishing when i am on the fish . as Sk8man said every tenth of a oz counts . so you cant go wrong running to the scale . here is what happen to us this past weekend . we pick up a 12. 3 and 9 .2  laker late afternoon and didn't have time to make it to the sale before it closed . so we fished right to dusk and loaded the boat drove to the store and packed the fish on ice and went to the weigh in bait shop ,slept in the truck till it open the next morning . both fish lost weight that knock us  down a place or two . told my buddy we should have kept the boat in the water with live well running all night  here is another way to keep them nice and fat in the live well , i had a nice laker in the well and had 10 sawbellys in the live well also the laker ate 4 of the sawbellys 

Edited May 23, 2017 by fisherdude

[Paul Czarnecki]

If a fish isn't bleeding, puking or pooping it cannot lose weight.  Where would it come from?   For a fish to lose weight through dehydration it would have to shrivel up--even then it wouldn't be near as much as you think. 

[Sk8man]

Maybe I should have said "divest themselves of liquid matter" but that is what I was referring to. Have a look at the bottom of a cooler sometime without anything in it but a freshly caught fish and examine it afterward and there will be slime, water, and a mixture of blood and all of that in there after the fish dies....it weighs at least hundreths of a pound and that is what I meant. After losing by 1/100 of a pound twice I am a firm believer in my statement.

[fisherdude]

well i don't have to worry about fish losing weight this weekend , can't get any