Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 201, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 August 1911 — Weight of a Bass. [ARTICLE]

Weight of a Bass.

How much does a bass weigh? Now, someone is going to spring that old joke of “as much as its scales show,” and you will have another guess. .. < • Lots of fisherman guess at anywhere within a pound or two of a correct estimate, usually being willing to stretch it a little, at that. Of course, there is no absolutely perfect way of getting at the weight without scales, although an estimate somewhere within a half a pound or so* may be arrived at by measuring the fish. When a bass measures 10 inches in length its minimum legal size, it weighs approximately eight ounces; 11 inches, 10 ounces; 14 inches, one pound, eight ounces; 17 inches, two pounds, eight ounces; 18 inches, three pounds,, four ounces; 19 inches, four pounds, two ounces; 20 inches, four pounds, twelve ounces; 25 inches, seven pounds, eight ounces. It is a safe rule if a bass measure over 25 inches in length, to declare that it weighs anywhere from eight to ten pounds and stick to it, for everyone will believe it. But the man who catches a 12-lnch fish and tries to pass it off as a twopounder, is a prevaricator and ought to fall in the lake.