Fish measuring device

[TravP]

Does anybody know of a fish measuring board that measures fish down to 7"? Most only go down to 10". Needs to be accurate.

Thanks

[SFC]

I have a tape measure and a marker but it is kinda spendy, or am I not getting it?

[TravP]

I'm looking for some kind of a plastic or aluminum bump board.

[Esox_Magnum]

Why 7" not many fish worth keeping that size.

[Wanderer]

Trav,

I've just always lined up the fishes nose to the 10 inch mark and looked for where the tail winds up in the teens. Obviously a little math then follows.

Curious why you need a highly accurate bump board for 7 inch fish - maybe you don't want to say? I know you know your stuff so that's why I'm asking.

If I had to make something, I would cut a larger pvc tube in half lengthwise and cap one end. Scribe in your hash marks after using a tape measure and highlight them with a marker.

[McGurk]

buy a cheap piece of plastic rain gutter and cut it to the length you want. screw a block on one end, and accurately scribe/scratch your inch marks, and go over them with a sharp tipped sharpie marker. or just do that with your magic 7' mark.

[waterwolff]

How about this WILDCO Fish Measuring Board. Pretty spendy for what it is.

Mini Fish Measuring Board, White PVC, 14 inches / 36cm long

[118-E40]

[jigginjim]

I took a standard bump board that started at 10" and add a smaller ruler to the front ot it to go down to 5" for a club tourney. Points scored on 7" sunfish, but less help me decide if the spot had the quality fish I was looking.

[TravP]

Why 7" not many fish worth keeping that size.

Its for the UPL, a 7" bluegill is the minimum and 8" crappie.

[TravP]

I took a standard bump board that started at 10" and add a smaller ruler to the front ot it to go down to 5" for a club tourney. Points scored on 7" sunfish, but less help me decide if the spot had the quality fish I was looking.

This is probably what I'm going to be going with. Thanks Jim.

[jmg]

McGurk-I did something similar to what you were talking about doing for a measuring device. I got a 10ft. piece of plastic rain gutter for about $2 when it was on sale and cut off a section about 38" long. Also bought an end cap for it for about $1 and a metal(aluminum) yardstick for under $3. So I had less than $7 invested and it still works great. I wet it first in the Summer, when it's hot, before placing a fish on it so they lose less slime. Just wish I caught more fish that exceeded the 3 ft. mark. First time my brother and a friend saw my new contraption in the boat they thought it was a mini version of the mens' room troughs at the Metrodome. Gave me a bunch of grief about it, but they like to measure their "trophies" with it.

[blue_healer_guy]

If your keeping fish for a tourney or or fishin club min, your doing it for the wrong reasons.

[TravP]

If your keeping fish for a tourney or or fishin club min, your doing it for the wrong reasons.

Whats that supposed to mean. Even if the fish are on the small side, they still get eaten, nothing goes to waste.

[TravP]

By the way, it wouldn't hurt most of the metro lakes if some of the smaller fish were weeded out. Put the bigger ones back. Heres a quick little read on that subject. Big fish are important in the gene pool

[pikedreams]

All US currency measures exactly 6 inches long. I've used it many times to give scale to photos of Sunfish. Just throw a buck down and eyeball it from there. Or fold the bill in half and then fold one half into thirds to measure the extra inch.

[TravP]

All US currency measures exactly 6 inches long. I've used it many times to give scale to photos of Sunfish. Just throw a buck down and eyeball it from there. Or fold the bill in half and then fold one half into thirds to measure the extra inch.

That's a good idea but I need something quick and easy. Thanks though man!

[Trump34]

I use a Frabill ice skimmer that has a 30" handle and starts with a mark at 6 inches with 1/2" increments up to the 30" mark. The long handle saves a lot of bending and kneeling and I like that it serves two functions.

I have also seen PVC pipe cut in 1/2 and to length and that works well. If you have a couple slots to deal with make a mark with a permanent marker at the desired lengths.

[jmvsmv]

I found a local hardware store with schedule 30 pvc pipe(4 inch pipe) schedule 30 has a flat end cap. cut the pieces to 32 inches, glued a cap on one end. Then ran through a table saw split in half.now I had 2 "troughs" I measured and marked out from 1 inch out to 30 inches, took a dremel with an engraver tip, and engraved every 1/2 inch and every 1 inch line along with the numbers at each inch, making special marks for the slot limit on the lakes I mainly fish, so you could make special marks at 7" and 8" for quick reference. Once I had the lines engraved I used a q-tip and painted the lines with the purple pvc primer so they are very easy to see. I found some scrap pieces of the schedule 30 that I got very cheap, the caps were 4 or 5 bucks a piece, I already had the purple primer and pvc cement and dremel and tip, but the primer is maybe a couple bucks for a small bottle that would do many of these. I made a total of 4 of these measuring devices and had I think a total of around $16.00 and if I would have had to buy the primer and pvc cement maybe around $6-$7 more for a total of around 23 bucks for 4 of them. So far they have held up through 2 summers in the boat and back of trucks, as well as all of last winter and so far this winter with no problems. I would guess they took me around an hour to an hour and a half total time to make them, but I cut them when I already had saws set up. The lines are not exact, but after finished I measured and was less than a 1/16th off anywhere throughout 30 inches

[LightningBG]

If your keeping fish for a tourney or or fishin club min, your doing it for the wrong reasons.

What are you talking about?

[IlliniWalli]

i picked up a rapala folding ruler at gander a couple years back to keep in my ice bucket that i am pretty sure starts at 6"

its plastic, has a flip up bump board and goes to 36 inches. cost 3 or 4 bucks, i think.

i am at work or i would go check.

[Wanderer]

I took a standard bump board that started at 10" and add a smaller ruler to the front ot it to go down to 5" for a club tourney. Points scored on 7" sunfish, but less help me decide if the spot had the quality fish I was looking.

Not saying this won't work for you Trav, but in the freezing cold temps of winter a fish will stick to a cold metal bump board. Just like your tongue to a pole.

You could wet it before putting a fish on it or keep it warm enough so they won't freeze to it on contact but I think it would be easier tourney wise to make something out of pvc or a rain gutter as mentioned. Just my take on it.

I know this because I have carried both a Golden Rule and Judge bump board in my fish house.

Good luck!

[TravP]

Not saying this won't work for you Trav, but in the freezing cold temps of winter a fish will stick to a cold metal bump board. Just like your tongue to a pole.

You could wet it before putting a fish on it or keep it warm enough so they won't freeze to it on contact but I think it would be easier tourney wise to make something out of pvc or a rain gutter as mentioned. Just my take on it.

I know this because I have carried both a Golden Rule and Judge bump board in my fish house.

Good luck!

[Harp]

I just screwed the old classic state fair yardstick right to the top lip of the sled across right under my portable bench seat

Harp