How do we measure our fish?

[tunaticer]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering what the most common consensus is for measuring?
Do we measure to the fork of the tail or to the tips of the tail?

[Dan5]

I've alway's measured to the tip cos that's how long the fish is i reckon,what about a barra?it's got no fork (til ya eat it).Same go's for macky's and whatever i don't know anyone that measure's to the fork.What's the fisherie's sticker ask you to do fork or tip of tail?Dan......

[loophole]

it really does depend on the fish but most of the time i measure from nose to tail tip

[finga]

Is that for legalities or personal reference??
For personal reference I measure them by how many are needed to fill my fat guts :)
For legalities I measure to tip.
Just like this link below but I don't stretch them. I kinda try and squash them up and minus a couple of cm's to allow for shrinkage in the esky. Seems everything shrinks in the cold :(
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/xchg/dpi/hs.xsl/28_3011_ENA_HTML.htm

[tunaticer]

I measure to the fork that way the fisheries cant nail me for undersize fish. I have seen lots of fish with parts of thier tails missing also and am yet to see one with the fork missing.

Jack.

[Richard]

Yeah for legality it's all total length (to tip). Scientifically we measure them to the fork length (for fish with concave tails) because it is less variable
and also doesn't rely upon having the whole fin there (as Jack alluded to).

Personally I measure to the tip when rec fishing... makes it sound bigger :)


Richard

[Stuie]

A cousin of mine was out on a charter the other day and operator made him measure his Coronation Trout to the inside of the concave of the tail. He asked the operator if that was a rule for his boat, but was told that was the way they had to be measured by the rule book. I've always measured them to the tip and thought it seems a little unfair but as far as I can work out I am right. Anyone interprut the rules differently?

[Ausfish]

As per QLD Fisheries

http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/images/Fisheries_RecreationalFishing/FishMeasuringBoard-lindr-500_rdax_500x399.gif

Page, as indicated above, is
http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/cps/rde/xchg/dpi/hs.xsl/28_3011_ENA_HTML.htm

[minno]

People, that's the law. Cool. But when it comes to the body size of the fish, the tail is just an extra. Inside the fishes tail should be the law, or where the meat starts or in this case, at the end. This is what where eating, not at the frilly bits.




Minno

[kitty_cat]

minno come on mate your kidding yourself everyone i mean everyone whants it to be as big as possible
bigger is better always

[bennykenny]

measuring the fish from its longest length seems like common sense to me , why would you want to shorten the length of your fish, unless you want to keep that 71cm flattie, that is!!!

[TheSaint]

I go to the fork as as you can't stretch it out like alot people try to with the tail..

[Mattg68]

what are you doin' Tunaticer, are you trying to get fisheries to go the fork.

STOP IT!

Just kiddin' mate.

The law states the tail tip, then the tail tip it is, the rest is just personal preference. I still think they should up the sizes & reduce bags on some of our more common species eg. whiting, bream etc. As they are you get bugger all off them for a feed hence people catching hundreds of them at a time. It's also embarassing filleting fish that size in public. (Sorry, i still got the Swains washing thru my head)

hey Saint, what are the techniques for 'stretching' fish. I've never seen a fish stretching rack for sale in the tackle shops. lol. just messin' with ya.


Matt

[TheSaint]

hey Saint, what are the techniques for 'stretching' fish. I've never seen a fish stretching rack for sale in the tackle shops. lol. just messin' with ya.


Matt


This what i mean a 34cm bream made to look close 38cm model..

[Mattg68]

yeh Saint, it's a shame that some would stoop that low (hope that pics not from your personnal library) to gain a couple of cms but hey, it takes all types so they say. oughta give themselves an uppercut & one on the run i reckon.

Matt

[Whitto]

I measure all of the fish, Cheers Whitto

[schoesno1]

ive always measured from nose to tail tips, i think thats the real length of the fish (plus it makes the fish size bigger when ur telling ur mates about that great catch)

[schoesno1]

is there a legal way to measure fish??????

[schoesno1]

in south australia???

[VoodooChile78]

I think a lot more people need to get a copy of the fisheries rule book...as per "Ausfish" different fish are measured differently.

But for bragging rights...the bigger you can make it...the better :P And remember with each telling of that fish tale...it should grow...just like the story of the battle it took to subdue it.

[blaze]

IMO if you need to measure for keeping its to small, for bragging rights I think the old arm measurement is the way to go, you know the one, depending on how gullable the company one is explaining the size to, is to how far the hands are apart.
cheers
blaze

[TheSaint]

yeh Saint, it's a shame that some would stoop that low (hope that pics not from your personnal library) to gain a couple of cms but hey, it takes all types so they say. oughta give themselves an uppercut & one on the run i reckon.

Matt

LOL It not mine.. It's a mate who will get a uppercut from it being posted on public forum! haha :P

[Dignity]

saint, 34cm is still a nice bream although the pic you had looked a bit smaller judging by the size of the tail.

what state are we talking about as I think in NSW it is to the fork but in QLD to the tip as previously shown, but then again if you have to measure it, it is too small,

[Chas & Clarry]

We measure to the tips (don't indulge in the 1-tip-stretch as per Thesaint's photo that way)

However we do indulge in exageration, hyperbole and bare faced lies when describing the enormity and fighting prowess of the sea monsters that we have pulled over the side on past fishing adventures (once we have eaten all the evidence of course :P !!)

C&C

[minno]

I still reckon measurement should done at the tail fork. Just think about it. When you tell a fishing story and you add those few centimeters on, no-one will hold you responsible for telling a tall tail. A few beers can do this.;D ;D ;D





minno

[Eagle]

I worked in the USA for almost seven years as an engineering instructor. After the class would finish, I would be inundated with questions about the fishing in Aust. I asked the class (aged from 19 to 55) what size fish do you catch here in Ohio. They told me that they catch 20" walleye, 10" bluegill, 20" trout etc. etc. and asked what size fish do I catch (in Aust). I replied that most of the fish I catch when out in my boat were around 3 inches, and that I'd caught a lot that went 4 inches and a few that went 7 to 8 inches. They were all freaked out at such small fish and asked why did we Aussies spend so much money on boats and gear just to catch such things. "Oh, sorry" I said. I forgot to explain it properly, We dont have time to measure our fish in length. We measure our fish by the distance between the eyes, its so much faster when they are on the bite".
To this day, they still dont know if I was kidding them or not but they did ask what did it cost to go to Australia.
Eagle

[Noelm]

seems pretty obvious, that they should be measured the same as the relevant Fisheries do in your state! which in most cases is tip to tip or end of "nose" to tip of tail.

[finga]

IMO if you need to measure for keeping its to small, for bragging rights I think the old arm measurement is the way to go, you know the one, depending on how gullable the company one is explaining the size to, is to how far the hands are apart.
cheers
blaze
One problem with that...I have really short arms for the fish I catch...or should that be really short fingers :-/

[Scott nthQld]

Because I nearly always fish for a feed, I use QLD DPI regs, that is from nose to the tips of the tail, however my motto is if you need to measure it, throw it back its too small.

Also for my own records before I release fish I will measure as per the regs so I can record what fish and average size was caught in a particular spot

[snappatrappa]

If you watch how the fishpigs measure them (if you have ever been boarded that is) they measure from tip of nose to tip of tail with the tail tips pushed together. On the pro boat I fish the reef on, we use a piece of stormwater pipe with a cap on it, then cut in half and cut to the right length for trout. Just drop the fish in with its nose against the cap and push the two tips of the tail together. For rec fisho's there are only three sizes - legal, big, and f'ing huge