Measuring Fish

How do you do it? I’m seeing some posts where people say they caught a fish of a certain size, and then they post the picture of the tape and to me I have a completely different interpretation. To me, a fish must have a closed mouth for a “True” measurement. A crappie with it’s mouth open adds probably an extra full inch depending on how you angle the fish. This is obviously a big difference, and a possible explanation for people who tell me all the time that they slay 13-14″ crappies all the time and I’m over here like- Dang, good for you. I fish 3-4 times as much as you and I see a 12″ fish as a big one, 13’s come several times a year, and maybe 1 or 2 14’s all year (if any) on the river. I think there should be a standard in place for measuring fish, and although I thought it was pretty common already to measure with the mouth closed, I know not everyone does it the same. What are everyone’s thoughts?

Unless there’s money involved, I don’t worry about it. If they want to catch a “16 inch” crappie that I know just by looking is barely pushing 14, so be it. Kind of like when one of the kids says they saw a monster…”oh really? Wow…cool…did you make friends with it?”

Well when it comes to slot limits the MDNR will stretch them out. I usually pinch the tail.

Below 40″ I could be off by as much as an inch or so. Above 55″ I try to be as accurate as possible. Since the mouth is on the underside, I don’t worry about that too much and I don’t pinch the tail like the DNR wants us to. We don’t keep them anyway.

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Below 40″ I could be off by as much as an inch or so. Above 55″ I try to be as accurate as possible.

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You’re catching 55 inch Crappies? I need to hang around with you more often

I must have missed the crappies part. Thought we were talking about “fish”.

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I must have missed the crappies part. Thought we were talking about “fish”.

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I’M PRETTY SURE A CERTAIN “CRAPPIETOM” ISNT GOING TO APPRECIATE THAT COMMENT!!!

Here’s the legal way to measure fish in MN. But when slot limits aren’t involved and it’s simply for bragging rights… who really cares?

whatever tail position makes a close fish illegal seems to be the preferred DNR measurement

Sounds like you talk to some people like I do that catch pounder size gills all the time on the river!

I caught my PB Lk Superior steelhead in Canada once and the locals I fished with physically kept me from pinching the tail when I measured it. It was 29 1/2″ (unpinched) but I am pretty sure it would have been 30″ using the pinched tail method.

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How do you do it? I’m seeing some posts where people say they caught a fish of a certain size, and then they post the picture of the tape and to me I have a completely different interpretation. To me, a fish must have a closed mouth for a “True” measurement. A crappie with it’s mouth open adds probably an extra full inch depending on how you angle the fish. This is obviously a big difference, and a possible explanation for people who tell me all the time that they slay 13-14″ crappies all the time and I’m over here like- Dang, good for you. I fish 3-4 times as much as you and I see a 12″ fish as a big one, 13’s come several times a year, and maybe 1 or 2 14’s all year (if any) on the river. I think there should be a standard in place for measuring fish, and although I thought it was pretty common already to measure with the mouth closed, I know not everyone does it the same. What are everyone’s thoughts?

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I have a measuring board in the sled. Push its face into the board and wherever the tail lies is what it is. No pinching the tail and moving the fish unless I’m trying to make the 15″ slot for walleye.

I sincerely apologize for misleading you, or anyone else on IDO when I call a walleye out at 23+”. From years of fishing bass tournament, I only had bump boards that were 22-1/2″ long. Considering I’ve been in construction for 30+ years, I thought I was a pretty good guess on +/- a half inch. Well, I made the splurge and bought a 32″ board this year. You won’t have anymore guesses from me…until the eyes are over 32″
Also, I won’t measure them at night anymore
Plus, I promise to never again embellish the size by 1/16th of an inch. When I stated 31″, I was to lazy to type thirty and fifteen-sixteenths inches. Won’t happen again

As for others…hey, they took there best guess sometimes. Some guys would make good carpenters….and others…well, they caught a nice fish and let them enjoy their moment

LOL… that tail doesn’t look like a 30 15/16″ fish.

Someday my measuring tape will be too short… someday.

I have always pinched the tail and closed the mouth on crappies as well as eyes.

There will always be guys who catch batches of 28″+ walleyes, that they threw back. Ask for a picture of one a board and they shrink to 26″… Hey, it fought like a 30″er, doesn’t that count for something ? Kinda like picking up the 4 foot gimme sidehill putt

Measuring standards would only be needed if you have a need to measure your your success relative to others.

Pun intended.

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LOL… that tail doesn’t look like a 30 15/16″ fish.

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Nice catch! I wanted to see if anyone would notice

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LOL… that tail doesn’t look like a 30 15/16″ fish.

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Nice catch! I wanted to see if anyone would notice

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pretty much a softball there….

Cut the fish in half….more options as to its length.

Frabil makes a tool specifically for measuring crappies. We use it on a regular basis when fishing for crappies in Kansas with family who live down there.
From what I understand, its pretty much the excepted method for measuring to see if crappies meet the minimum length requirement that you will often see on lakes down that way.

Frabill® Crappie EZ – Check’R

If you’ve never used a crappie measuring tool like this, I can tell you that it does actually force the mouth of a crappie closed.

That does tend to make it hard to get that extra inch out of a nice crappie when measuring it though so I don’t expect to see many pictures of big crappies being measured this way.

Everyone knows that the only true way to size a fish is to take it’s picture with a 12oz Bud heavy next to it

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Frabil makes a tool specifically for measuring crappies. We use it on a regular basis when fishing for crappies in Kansas with family who live down there.
From what I understand, its pretty much the excepted method for measuring to see if crappies meet the minimum length requirement that you will often see on lakes down that way.

Frabill® Crappie EZ – Check’R

If you’ve never used a crappie measuring tool like this, I can tell you that it does actually force the mouth of a crappie closed.

That does tend to make it hard to get that extra inch out of a nice crappie when measuring it though so I don’t expect to see many pictures of big crappies being measured this way.

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Looking at the pictures, that thing only goes to 12″

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Frabil makes a tool specifically for measuring crappies. We use it on a regular basis when fishing for crappies in Kansas with family who live down there.
From what I understand, its pretty much the excepted method for measuring to see if crappies meet the minimum length requirement that you will often see on lakes down that way.

Frabill® Crappie EZ – Check’R

If you’ve never used a crappie measuring tool like this, I can tell you that it does actually force the mouth of a crappie closed.

That does tend to make it hard to get that extra inch out of a nice crappie when measuring it though so I don’t expect to see many pictures of big crappies being measured this way.

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Looking at the pictures, that thing only goes to 12″

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Probably because the minimum length in many southern States is either 10 or 12″ long.
Apparently it wasn’t meant to measure the total length of big fish.
This way, it still leaves plenty of room for fishermen to lie about the size of there big crappies.

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Probably because the minimum length in many southern States is either 10 or 12″ long.
Apparently it wasn’t meant to measure the total length of big fish.
This way, it still leaves plenty of room for fishermen to lie about the size of there big crappies.

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NICE

Hey Stinky,
What difference does it make if you close its eyes?

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How do you do it? I’m seeing some posts where people say they caught a fish of a certain size, and then they post the picture of the tape and to me I have a completely different interpretation. To me, a fish must have a closed mouth for a “True” measurement. A crappie with it’s mouth open adds probably an extra full inch depending on how you angle the fish. This is obviously a big difference, and a possible explanation for people who tell me all the time that they slay 13-14″ crappies all the time and I’m over here like- Dang, good for you. I fish 3-4 times as much as you and I see a 12″ fish as a big one, 13’s come several times a year, and maybe 1 or 2 14’s all year (if any) on the river. I think there should be a standard in place for measuring fish, and although I thought it was pretty common already to measure with the mouth closed, I know not everyone does it the same. What are everyone’s thoughts?

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My thoughts .. you’re not a fisherman if you’re telling the true size of your fish..

Save for sticking within the slot limits, who cares? Enjoy the sunshine.

But Joel,
It does not allow my crappies to slide down to it’s bumper! Both its width and thickness that is allowed are the issue here!