Weight formula for GT's...

[Mark Harris]

Is the afore-mentioned "Nomad formula" different to this one?

Thanks for the reply Mark...

I think so....Nomads one is different.

Pete

Does anyone know the Nomad formula? Given the membership base of this forum, it should not be too hard to find!

[Bertrand Picarda]

Hi to all,

A good 100KG weighing scale with weighing sling bag as used by european carp and catfish anglers can fit the largest of the GTs and cost less than $100. This is the best way to weigh the fish with no damage and get an accurate weight. We spend hundreds on lures so we can afford a scale...Last trip we put a nice GT in the boat that everybody considered a 45+...it went 38 on the scale. I have no experience of true large fish but would not claim any weight unless it goes on scale.

Cheers to all and respect to all the guys for the big fish that are shown here irrespective of the true weight, these are awsome lifetime catches.

B

[Brandon Khoo]

On average, we find fish in NC to have a much bigger girth than at Bugatti/Elusive. I'm not sure why that is the case but that is an observation made over many trips to both locations. The thickest and heaviest fish I have seen have all come from NC.

To be honest, I have little interest in going to the extent of weighing a fish these days. Unless everything is already set-up, that additional time is just placing the fish at risk. We stuffed around with one fish years ago in Vanuatu and when we put it back in, we couldn't revive it. I learnt a lesson that day. Also the weaker and more disoriented a fish is, the more likely it will be sharked.

Fish weights are just an estimate. If you choose not to believe them, that's fine. I don't think it takes away from the capture of a very nice fish.

Thats exactly right Mark,

Girth makes an enormous difference....At Elusive in July one was caught at 123cm and its girth was 94cm.
I got one that was 120cm long with a girth on 96cm....

Pete

My 119cm from Bugatti last year had a girth of 97cm.

[Graham Scott]

Will there come a day when people are asking how to convert weight to length??

It's happened in fisheries like Barramundi and is a direct result of catch and release (and tag and release). Everyone wants to catch a 1 metre long barra, but nobody ever mentions what it might weigh. 30 years ago it was all about trying to catch a 50lb fish (in my case a 20lb fish was the goal). My pb barra was an 18kg fish about 20 years ago...wonder if it was a metrey?? Even our "records" on reef fish are now in length rather than weight. Red Emperor 89cm, Nannygai 94cm, etc

[Luke Wyrsta]

Will there come a day when people are asking how to convert weight to length??

It's happened in fisheries like Barramundi and is a direct result of catch and release (and tag and release). Everyone wants to catch a 1 metre long barra, but nobody ever mentions what it might weigh. 30 years ago it was all about trying to catch a 50lb fish (in my case a 20lb fish was the goal). My pb barra was an 18kg fish about 20 years ago...wonder if it was a metrey?? Even our "records" on reef fish are now in length rather than weight. Red Emperor 89cm, Nannygai 94cm, etc

Unlikely.

[Peter Morris]

Will there come a day when people are asking how to convert weight to length??

It's happened in fisheries like Barramundi and is a direct result of catch and release (and tag and release). Everyone wants to catch a 1 metre long barra, but nobody ever mentions what it might weigh. 30 years ago it was all about trying to catch a 50lb fish (in my case a 20lb fish was the goal). My pb barra was an 18kg fish about 20 years ago...wonder if it was a metrey?? Even our "records" on reef fish are now in length rather than weight. Red Emperor 89cm, Nannygai 94cm, etc

Unlikely.

 

[Travis Heaps]

Will there come a day when people are asking how to convert weight to length??

It's happened in fisheries like Barramundi and is a direct result of catch and release (and tag and release). Everyone wants to catch a 1 metre long barra, but nobody ever mentions what it might weigh. 30 years ago it was all about trying to catch a 50lb fish (in my case a 20lb fish was the goal). My pb barra was an 18kg fish about 20 years ago...wonder if it was a metrey?? Even our "records" on reef fish are now in length rather than weight. Red Emperor 89cm, Nannygai 94cm, etc

Unlikely.


.

Care to elaborate or should i do a search? 

Good point Graham, and after all a forum is a place for discussion of such things.  With the amount of pure guess work that goes into GT weights, since very few people have weighing slings or other devices, i think the move to a length and girth basis for fish measurement is common sense, after all everyone can carry a measuring tape fairly easy and get the data quickly.  Afterall that is what everyone is concerned about with the focus on a catch and release fishery, as you said.  Has merits i think.  That said, the current convention of a monster fish being 50kg is a good mark, i don't think it will ever go away.

[Jay Burgess]

Will there come a day when people are asking how to convert weight to length??

It's happened in fisheries like Barramundi and is a direct result of catch and release (and tag and release). Everyone wants to catch a 1 metre long barra, but nobody ever mentions what it might weigh. 30 years ago it was all about trying to catch a 50lb fish (in my case a 20lb fish was the goal). My pb barra was an 18kg fish about 20 years ago...wonder if it was a metrey?? Even our "records" on reef fish are now in length rather than weight. Red Emperor 89cm, Nannygai 94cm, etc

I hope so Graham.

I usually will take a measurement for any GT that looks to be over a metre fork length, occasionally a girth too but not often. I compare all my personal GT captures by length. Sometimes I will estimate a weight, but that's all it is really, just an estimate. If anyone asks me how big a particular fish is I usually just quote the fork length measurement.

[Luke Wyrsta]

Will there come a day when people are asking how to convert weight to length??

It's happened in fisheries like Barramundi and is a direct result of catch and release (and tag and release). Everyone wants to catch a 1 metre long barra, but nobody ever mentions what it might weigh. 30 years ago it was all about trying to catch a 50lb fish (in my case a 20lb fish was the goal). My pb barra was an 18kg fish about 20 years ago...wonder if it was a metrey?? Even our "records" on reef fish are now in length rather than weight. Red Emperor 89cm, Nannygai 94cm, etc

Unlikely.


.

Care to elaborate or should i do a search? 

Good point Graham, and after all a forum is a place for discussion of such things.  With the amount of pure guess work that goes into GT weights, since very few people have weighing slings or other devices, i think the move to a length and girth basis for fish measurement is common sense, after all everyone can carry a measuring tape fairly easy and get the data quickly.  Afterall that is what everyone is concerned about with the focus on a catch and release fishery, as you said.  Has merits i think.  That said, the current convention of a monster fish being 50kg is a good mark, i don't think it will ever go away.

A search may assist you - it's located in the top-right corner.

GT's come in irregular sizes which makes length alone difficult to determine wait - JMO.

[Mark Harris]

In the end it does not really matter much does it?

Like most folks I like to try to figure out how much my fish might weigh, but it is only guess work. On one sad occasion when a jigged GT decompressed badly and died, I called it on the boat as 19 kg. It weighed in on my bathroom scales at 23.5. Ever since that moment I have freely admitted I am rubbish at estimating weight.

Length is not such a bad idea as it is an absolute measurement that can be determined quickly and with minimum danger to the fish.

[Bertrand Picarda]

Hi Brandon,

This catch is what GT fishing dreams are made of and part of the legend of this sport. You guys made it true and I have total respect for the catch, the angler and the team.  It's just that if you have the chance to put such a monster safely on a scale next time (and judging by your results and places you are fishing it looks like it will happen again), please try it !
Cheers,
Bertrand

[Peter Morris]

Ok I finally got Nomads one today.

It is

Fork Length  X  Fork Length  X  Girth  X  2.75 divided by 10,000

Fork length is from Bottom lip to fork........and it needs to be a flat measurement...E.G put tape on deck of boat,not across the fish as the girth will make it slightly bigger.

This formula is good only for GT's and amberjack according to Glanny.

Pete