What would a 21.75" Smallmouth weigh?

[RumRiverRat]

Based on the pictures of a 21.75" smallmouth that was caught by a member of this forum I am guessing at least 6.5 pounds.

Trying to get permission to post the pic I was sent.

[goblueM]

Completely depends. My buddy caught a 21.75 inch (on the nose) smallie last April and it weighed 4 pounds. Skinny fish. If it was a pre-spawn female it could weigh 7 pounds easy though I would imagine

[LoonState]

+1.. skinny or fat?

Caught two on monday at mille lacs that were both 19 inches and fat, looked like footballs. One was 5.2lbs the other was 5.4lbs. Not sure how much two and some odd inches would add but i guess it depends on the girth also. So it seems totally possible. By the way nice fish.

[mww24]

I got a 20 on mille lacs last nite. i thought around 5 pounds. didnt weigh it

[LoonState]

We had four big ones with about a dozen regular sized ones last week, just weighed the fatties. Looked like footballs. Very surprised by length to weight.. Mouths were tore up from munching on the crayfish also. Once the sun came out they were cruisin the rocks in about 4-6ft of water eating everything in sight.

[Juan Grande]

I was in the boat for this fish Rum is talking about. We were in someone else's boat and were ill equiped to handle a trophy fish. No net, no livewell, no tape, no scale.

The fish hit on a 3" white grub just off a point and the fish stayed down on the bottom for a long time before we saw it. My jaw dropped when it finally broke the surface. I nearly tipped the boat trying to lip the dang thing.

We snapped a couple photos and then laid the fish down on a rubber oar and marked it off with the tail pinched, but didn't pinch the mouth. I was guessing it was between 20.50 and 21. Got back to shore and put a tape measure on it and it was a hair under 21.75". I know it's tough to get a good measurement the way we did it, but we shorted the fish if anything. I've caught quite a few 20" (5 lb) fish on Mille Lacs and this fish was in another class. Very healthy and thick which would probably mean it was between 6 and 6.5 lbs.

Definitely a fish of a lifetime for my buddy. I will try to get a pic to post here.

[Juan Grande]

Here is the fish. Keep in mind that he's 6'3" and is not holding the fish out.

[Nilsfisher]

it was a tank. That was one of the funnest fish I have caught. Thanks for lippin' that pig in the boat Juan!!

[Presco]

Nils, nice fish. Picture doesn't do it justice, but you can tell its a big one.

Next time, remember the age old formula. Distance from camera = how big you want fish to appear/how big fish actually is * angle of the shot. I leaned my lesson last year when I caught this 29" walleye. Combine terrible lighting and not holding the fish out, here is what happened.

[GSP4ME]

Laughing my silly-me off at that one, I would have thought closer to 30 but that is just me. great laugh

[TonkaBass]

lmao!!!

[JBone]

Thats awesome Presco!!! Definaetly didn't do ya justice on that 29incher. Hope ya got a mount though

[Juan Grande]

LOL, good one Presco.

The pic really doesn't do it justice. Kind of looks like a typical 20" SMB from Mille Lacs, but it really wasn't. Wish I could have gotten a pic of it on the tape.

[Greybeard53]

I used to do a lot of taxidermy and still do a fair number of reproductions. I have several good lists of castings off actual fish with exact measurements and known weights.

Here are a few actual smallie msmts that can give you a pretty close estimate of weight.

21.5" x 15" girth = 6.0lbs

21.75" x 15.25" girth = 6.3 lbs

22" x 16.5" girth = 6.75 lbs

Without knowing exact girth (that one is above avg.) I'd say it's safe to say it's in the 6.5lb range.

Hope this helps.

[Juan Grande]

Thanks Greybeard.

Kind of makes you think about all the stuff you have to have in the boat to get an accurate replica made. A camera, an accurate scale, a board/ruler and some kind of tape to measure the girth.

[Presco]

Its weird, when I sent the pic of that walleye to my local taxidermist with a note about how it was 29", they just started laughing and hung up on me. Might have to call a different place.

In all seriousness, I was just looking into this and the guy at the well-known place up in Duluth (not sure if you can say the name here) told me that all you need is a measurement and a pic. They can do everything else. They can get amazingly close to the girth just from the pictures. I think it was like $13 and change an inch for the replica, so you'd be looking at under $300 for a mount of your trophy. They do excellent work and have a display at a well known store in Blaine off of Central and the Big C. Current wait time is 8 months.

[aanderud]

Nice fish.

I've been measuring girths on quite a few catfish in the last 5 years or so, and you can actually do both the length and girth quite nicely with just a flexible seamstress tape.

They're like 1-2 bucks and they roll up nicely and will go easily to 60 inches. I have one in all of my tackle boxes because they're so cheap and small.

[Greybeard53]

I didn't mean to imply you needed the weight for a replica.

Really a length is the minimum. A photo is great. Girth if you have time.

BUT, the most important thing is to get the fish back in the water as soon as possible. The cloth tape is great to have in your tackle box.

As stated,a good taxidermist can come extremely close with an estimate.

My point was just that with replicas, there is a lot of data out there to help you estimate the actual weight of your fish.

[Juan Grande]

Is the place called Artistic **** something or other Presco? If so, that's where I am getting replica if I ever catch a worthy fish. A guy on this site (Leech21 or something) has had two replicas done there and they look phenomenal.

[Presco]

Yep, thats the place. I was thinking about getting a replica done of my 5.13 smallie from this spring, but now that Nils has apparently blown that out of the water, I'm holding out for a 6.

I talked to another place out of Ontario, called Advanced Tax*****. They are more expensive, but some of the stuff he showed me was amazing. They've come a long way with replicas.

[Juan Grande]

Me too on the 6 pounder.

[Nilsfisher]

I'll have to get a replica made sometime. Thanks guys for the input on where to go. I'll definitely look in to it.