Beats

Well, here's the end of the story. After reading all these posts by people almost pleading with me to get the certified weight of the fish, I went out and did it. I knew the fish wasn't as heavy as the current record holder but I had a nagging guilty feeling for not taking it to a gov't scale and so many people have insisted. It's funny though, seems so many people on here were just as excited (some even more) than myself with this fish and I kinda felt I was going to let some of you guys down if I couldn't be bothered to get a good weigh on the fish. Certainly doesn't help the guy who posted the "This board has lost its way" thread. I highly disagree. Look at how many views my thread got and how quickly, and I can't see a single negative post. Anyways, here's the pics. It was odd. I took the fish into a convenience store with a post office in the back and I felt kinda awkward waiting in line. But when I asked if I could weigh my frozen fish the guy wasn't even phased. Kinda came off like everyone that day had been by to weigh fish He was even kind of into it and was asking me where I caught it and if they taste more like bass or like musky. Kind of a weird comparison. He was even offering me to go behind the counter for better shots, but I declined, knowing the fish wasn't a record. So, that settles that. Great fish. Hope it tastes alright. Oh, and just so you know, .977 kg = 2.15 lb. But you shoulda seen the one that got away!

I understand what you mean, and if the fish was close to the record fish by even a few ounces I would go for a better scale. But it's not. As it sits its less than even the 2nd last record of 2.24 lbs. My conversion puts 2lb 2.5 oz equal to 2.16 lbs. No where near the current record of 2.71 lbs. I had a series of different weighted bottom bouncers. A few 1 oz and a few 3 oz. I added them onto the scale in various combos and found the scale to be very accurate. I even tried putting on an unopened jars of various products around the house and all were quite accurate. There is no way the fish could possibly weigh over the current record holder. That is the bottom line. Must have been a hell of a fat fish. Notice there's no pics of it Perhaps there are more where I found this one. I can't believe that after what be thousands of views, not a single person has asked where I caught this fish And I'm not telling..

So, i just booked a replica at Advanced to be made. Said it would be roughly 4 months due to all the business they have. He said he has the current record holder at his shop. Real one or a replica, I don't know. He was quite surprised that my fish didn't weigh more than it does and he said they do a lot of crappies at his business and has some molds of fish of the same size. Said their new website should be up shortly and it seems they have tonnes of specimens on location. I briefly thought of taking my fish down and getting a mold made, but I think I would rather just send him some pics and he can use the measurements I gave him to make a sweet replica. I guess crappies tend to lose their colour quickly when frozen and get freezer burn easily, yet he said he did one for Bob Izumi once where the replica was of a bass surrounded by crappies that had been frozen for 7 years... must have a hell of a technique for freezing fish. I think either tonight or tomorrow I'll thaw him out and perhaps take a few more pics before dining on it.

I ran around the house to try and find something with a fixed weight to check the kitchen scales. It took quite a long time since everything is measured in volume. Finally found a 3 oz bottom bouncer and the scale was bang on. I accept this. Here are pics of the fish on the scale after making sure it is accurate. Looks to be 2lbs 2.5 oz. A far cry from the original reading on my digital scale of 2lbs 14 oz that it showed us last night. Can't see that the fish magically lost weight in the freezer. I am content with this and somewhat relieved about not having to go any further with the details. Also, I can't seem to find any taxidermists anywhere in the London area. The replica option seems like a good idea but Im sure it costs about 10x the price. Quite likely I will wind up cooking the thing up tonight or tomorrow and just keep the pictures and the memory of it around. On the one hand a mount would be cool but then I'm wasting the meat of the fish. I suppose I could use my photos to have a replica made at any point of time anyway. And I've never eaten crappy so it seems like a hell of a way to start.

http://www.ofah.org/FishResources/index.cf...=7&RecID=44 This is the Ontario record, can't see that it is possible to have a smaller fish for a Canadian record.

I was thinking of either getting it mounted by a taxidermist or getting a replica made. I don't know of anywhere to have either option done around here though.

Well, after all that, its not going to be a record breaker after all. I was not too confident in my scale to begin with and this morning I had my dad bring over his kitchen scale that is fairly new. While kitchen scales are not portable at all they are much more reliable in my eyes than digital fishing scales. I figured I didn't want to go and take it around London trying to get ppl to weigh the fish and sign all this stuff if I wasn't positive on the weight, so I weighed it again to double check. My dad's scale weighs it in, frozen, at 2lb 4 oz (2 and a quarter lbs). This is a full 10 oz less than the original weight that 3 of us saw my scale say 2 or 3 times when the fish was originally caught. Even a few hours after the fish was caught and I was measuring it, I weighed it a few more times and some of the times the scale would weigh the fish in at drastically less which made me concerned, and yet if I reset them it would return to the 2lb 14 z mark. Oh well. I am not going to bother taking it somewhere else to have it weighed yet again. I have no faith in my Berkeley digital scale/grip anymore. Some times it says 2lb 14 or 15 oz's and sometimes it says 2lbs 4 or 6 oz's which is closer to what the 2nd scale says. Although, as you can see in the pics, this fish has a longer length than the current record holder, it has a smaller girth and that may account for something. A belly weighs more than a tail. While it's a disappointment, its still a great fish. After all that confusion I can honestly say I don't ever want to go through all that crap again. Having to run around and ask a million questions. The process may make sure the fish is legit, but it certainly isn't user friendly and has some flaws to it. I guess if anything, ppl can see the steps that need to be taken and not have to run around as I did and panic. Unfortunately, as we all know, fish are perishable which makes the whole process very time sensitive. I know when I originally l told my dad last night about all the steps and that I had to go and get it weighed on a gov't certified scale and have witnesses and all that, his response was that I should just take some pictures and settle with having caught a really nice fish and who cares about a record, its still a record for me. I am leaning towards that for future catches. In many regards I wish that the fish had originally weighed in a few oz's shy of the known record and that my camera battery wasn't dead. Then I would have been more than happy to take a few pics and release the fish. I know this thread got a lot of attention very quickly and I appreciate all the comments and advice. I thought I would feel a whole lot more disappointed with this result but I really don't. I have pics and measurements and a big fish in my freezer. I suppose it will be a meal in a few days.

Thanks for the responses. I'll try and get it weighed in the morning. If you see the current record from that link that was posted (its in the thread further back) you can see that my fish is longer but has a smaller girth than the current holder. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

Well, I just measured the fish and put it in the freezer until morning. Its triple bagged in grocery bags as its too big for the freezer bags I have and it will hopefully be getting weighed in the AM. I measured the length at 17 and 3/8 inches long and 12 1/8 inches in girth.

Oh really? I actually remembered that carp when I was thinking of what to do. I had no idea that the weight wouldn't be thrown off by freezing it. I certainly didn't think someone would weight it frozen. My concern was freezing it and then thawing it and having the fish somehow lose weight. Perhaps I will freeze the fish tonight then. Did you freeze the fish in water or just in an empty freezer bag? If they will weigh it frozen then that is even better.

Ya, im not really sure how to keep it at its best. I am hoping to get it weighed early morning and don't want to wait around for it to thaw out. I just weighed it again at 2lb 13 oz, but again, my scales are kinda "iffy" and I am kinda worried about it losing weight over night. I was thinking of adding ice to the water. I don't know, this whole deal is really stressful. I just hope my scale doesnt say 2lb 14 oz and then I get it weighed in at less. While my fish seems to beat the current record, it really isn't far off. I am afraid that it will somehow lose weight over night. I can't think of any where that is open to get it weighed or else I would be there.

Well the fish is pretty much dead now. I tried calling Sobeys 24/7 and A&P 24/7 stores but they both said that I would have to call back in the morning and talk to the dept managers etc. I can't blame them, its a pretty weird phone call to answer. Can't think of any post offices open right now either. I'll just leave it in teh garbage can over night. I just hope that after all this my scales were vastly off or the fish somehow loses weight. All I can do is wait for morning and go and see. Either way it turns out its a massive fish.

So it can be weighed at at a grocery store or post office, but does the person doing the weighing need to sign something? Do they need to be the one to take measurements? If the fish did indeed weigh enough I am guessing that it would be enough to just get the weight and then drive it to an MNR office and they could do the rest. (?)

One other thing, since its been so long the fish isn't likely to survive. Its in a garbage can and I have no way to aerate it. Can't get it weighed until the morning so I guess I just let the fish be, and if it dies leave it in the water until the time of weighing? I wish I had a 2nd set of scales to verify that my weighing is correct. I have Berkely boga-like grips with a digital scale on it. I am just afraid that I am either getting a false reading or that the fish will somehow lose weight before I can get it weighed.

So it says to either take it to the MNR or OFAH office. Anyone know where one would be close to London?? Also, where do I get this thing weighed? Am I just supposed to walk into a post office and have them weigh the fish and also get its girth and length?

OK, so here's the deal. Does the fish need to be killed and weighed in order to be considered a record? Because from what I can see there is no official record kept for white crappie. There is a listed current record weight, but the OFAH site doesn't list white crappie as a possible entry. If this is the case, then I am happy to just take pics with measurements and pics with me holding it on a scale and then go and release the fish. I don't want to kill the fish unless it can definitely be a certified record.

So I am confused as to the record system. If it's the OFAH that is in charge, their website only seems to record black crappie and there is no listing for white crappie entries. Yet when you go to http://ontariofishing.net/fishrecords.html you see a white crappie record. So what's the deal? Basically this fish is still alive and if there is going to be some big runaround and then I find out that there isn't a catagory, I'd rather go drive out and release it alive... while I still can.

Its 100% a white crappie. There aren't even any black crappie where this was caught. Funny thing is that every other crapiie I've ever caught there was like a few oz's in weight.

Its not 2.14 lbs, its 2lb 14 oz. thats a lot different.

I just caught a 2lb 14 oz white crappie. It's absolutely massive. It is in my possession and still alive, for the time being. Can anyone tell me how to go about getting it checked out for record status? I'll take some pics and measurements in a few minutes, as my camera was dead when I caught it. From what I can tell this is much bigger than the current record.

its not a minutes thing , its bandwidth. You get charged now if you use over 60 gb a month. For the average perosn that is way more than enough but for some pp, like myself, who use torrents and download movies and tv shows frequently, I can use 60 gb in a few days easily.I just use the log in feature on the Rogers website to check how much of the 60 gb I've used so far.

Sunfish thrive in just about any body of water that they are in. They are usually the first fish seen from shore and while they are a small fish they have huge numbers. I have never kept any myself just for the simple reason that I would need a whole lot of them to make a decent meal. I wouldn't feel at all guilty for taking any number of sunfish. Sounds like you ran into a grumpy man with nothing better to do than stick his nose in other peoples' business.

It may be true that way, way back bass and pike were new comers to waters around here but if you consider how long they have been here compared to how short of a time carp took to change their environments its a no brainer. Some things , fish or plants, are introduced to bodies of water and have positive impacts or at least don't affect too much around them and are not much of a concern. Some things like gobies, carp etc can totally change bodies of water for the worst in a very short time frame. Pike and bass certainly didn't have a fraction of the negative effects that carp have caused. It's not so much a matter of all new species are evil, rather its a matter of looking at the proven signs of how things used to be without said species and how things are with this species now here. Pike can most certainly take a nice trout pond and turn it into a pond full of pike very quickly. In that regard they cause damage. The thing that pike and bass don't do, however, its take out the physical environment the way that carp tend to. They may go from being a small percentage of the fish population to being the populated fish, but they don't rip up all the vegetation doing so. The Thames in London is by no means a good pike fishery. There are tonnes of pike in certain sections of the river , especially out of town branches like near Woodstock and trout creek/Wildwood , but I don't know anyone who can go out and catch pike on demand within London. You are certainly right about the bass though. There isn't nearly enough water for them to get big here currently but you can catch a dozen in an hour or so whenever you want in the downtown area. I caught dozens last year and the biggest was 1.5 lbs. A 3 lb'er in the city limits would be huge to catch downtown. The white bass are all bigger than the biggest sm's I find.

What ever you do, I would not ever, in any circumstance, add carp to any body of water EVER. Carp, especially in numbers, can devastate a body of water in no time. The smaller the body of water the greater their effect. They are like living trash compactors. They can survive off eating anything they find. There are so many in the Thames here in London that there are basically no plants at all in the river. No plants = no lm bass, no pike, etc. I would add any type of sucker or catfish well before even contemplating carp. Carp are an evasive species and I grew up with people who would catch them and use them as garden fertilizer. No offense to people who catch them for fun, but they aren't supposed to be here and have had a devastating impact on many, many bodies of water and the species of fish that naturally should be in them.

Nice fish. I suggest that when you link photos in your posts that are hosted on PhotBucket that you use the IMG CODE link so that the pic is actually shown in the thread and not just a clickable link.