Do fish really shrink? Fact or Fiction?

[Texeye]

Have any of you had a fish that shrank noticably? I have fished quite a few tournaments in cold and hot weather and I don't ever recall any fish shrinking to a noticable degree.

It seems if this were the norm there would be a lot of DQ's. I won't bring a fish in unless it passes the line because I have heard this so many times. We weigh and measure our fish and I don't ever recall any fish that shrank noticably.When we write down the lengths on the lake they all seem to be the same when we come in whether we caught them early or late.

If a fish is measured with it's stomach full, and you measure it with a round belly it seems that the fish would actually lengthen if it threw up the contents of it's stomach in the live well.

I don't know, but I think next time I decide to keep a few I'll put one on ice, one in the well and let one die in a bucket and see if there is a noticeable difference. Maybe some of you have tried this? It seems as long as the fish is alive it will stay the same length?

If not, how much can one shrink? I'm not denying it, I just haven't seen it to the degree that if the tail barely passed the line that it would shrink enough to cause a DQ.

Fact or fiction?
Texeye

[jake]

yes, i've had a few occasions where fish have shrunk. in fish that are close to the minimum size I will try to have at least a quarter inch to spare. i don’t think it gets noticed much with bigger fish because they don’t get measured as close.




when we lose the 2nd. amendment the others will be history too!

[opposite]

Seen high current fish stretch but never shrink

[jake]

a few documents on fish shrinkage. not saying they can't grow, but i have personally had them shrink.

http://www.erie-county-ohio.net/eswcd/pdf/fish_shrinkage.pdf
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/foci/publications/PDF/buch0509.pdf
http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/articles/if0506_Bits/




when we lose the 2nd. amendment the others will be history too!

[dpd]

Here is what I have found to be 75% of the time to be correct. It has also been proven by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

As a fish is fighting, the muscles tighten up causing the fish to shrink some. After the fight and it is "Relaxing" in the live well it will grow.
I had many cases of this happening with both walleye and bass.
Last year in a tournament I caught a fish that was just touching the 15" line. When we got to the weigh in several hours later that fish was 15 1/4" long. That extra pound placed us in the money.

Now when a fish dies and is placed on ice or cooled the fish will shrink.

Next time you are out fun fishing try it. Measure a 18" fish as soon as you take it off the hook. Place it in the live well for 20 mins then remeasure it and see if it hasen't grown 1/4" or so.

[ETT]

In kill tournaments where most fish are iced they will shrink about 1/4 " per fish, but you can flex them back and forth a few times and get at least 1/2 of it back.

We lost a tournament years ago by 3/8"es on 20 fish, (6 man team 10 fish per day, 2 days) and we didn't flex them. We'd have gained 2-1/2"es if we had.

Thankfully everyone has figured out that it's easier to weigh a basket of fish then to measure every one.

[T Mac]

I dunno about tournaments ...but I sure notice a lot of guys fish really shrink between the boat and the certified meat scale up at the store. ;) ;)

[ETT]

1/4" as compared to 30 - 40% reductions. Yep!! Them certified scales can cause some serious shrikage, kinda like a dip in 50 degree water.

[T Mac]

;)

Now we talking negative net numbers, Jim. ;)

[Burr]

They can change size, yes. Including shrink, or grow (in length, not lbs...).

If the fish is stressed, tenses up, it can shrink.

It the fish relaxes, it can get longer.

A quarter inch either way for a 17 inch fish is possible.

[Burr]

They can change size, yes. Including shrink, or grow (in length, not lbs...).

If the fish is stressed, tenses up, it can shrink.

It the fish relaxes, it can get longer.

A quarter inch either way for a 17 inch fish is possible.

[richard s]

I think another thing that happens is a fish gets measured on one side and later on its other side. You will be amazed at how much of a length difference you will get from side to side.

[richard s]

I think another thing that happens is a fish gets measured on one side and later on its other side. You will be amazed at how much of a length difference you will get from side to side.

[Texeye]

I did a little pre-fishing today... didn't want to clean anything so just kept one eye that I fought a little longer than usual. Thought I would sacrifice one fish to the experiment and this one might be a good test since it was a little stressed.

Got in boat...17 3/4 inches exactly. Put in livewell that was empty except a little water. Began to fill as fish flopped around.

Hour later fish was belly up but alive. Took it out and measured ...17 3/4 exactly. (both sides).

Turned oxygen on to livewell. 2 hours later fish was swimming right side up. Fished and ran around the lake another hour. Could hardly catch fish in live well. Measured fish...17 3/4 exactly. Released back into lake.

Results of my test on a live walleye... A 17 3/4 inch walleye is just that, a 17 3/4 inch fish.:)

To be continued next weekend...
Have a good one.
Texeye

[Texeye]

I did a little pre-fishing today... didn't want to clean anything so just kept one eye that I fought a little longer than usual. Thought I would sacrifice one fish to the experiment and this one might be a good test since it was a little stressed.

Got in boat...17 3/4 inches exactly. Put in livewell that was empty except a little water. Began to fill as fish flopped around.

Hour later fish was belly up but alive. Took it out and measured ...17 3/4 exactly. (both sides).

Turned oxygen on to livewell. 2 hours later fish was swimming right side up. Fished and ran around the lake another hour. Could hardly catch fish in live well. Measured fish...17 3/4 exactly. Released back into lake.

Results of my test on a live walleye... A 17 3/4 inch walleye is just that, a 17 3/4 inch fish.:)

To be continued next weekend...
Have a good one.
Texeye

[eperiement]

The experiement would be....measure catch said fish thoroughly and systematically....kill said fish and put on ice. Then measure said fish. Did the lenght change then??? That would be the experiement.

[Texeye UL]

My concern is if a fish caught and kept during tournament hours would actually shrink or grow, and what might influence the change.

I will put one on ice and see what happens this weekend. This does not come into play during a tournament but definately something to consider if you are keeping walleye on ice after being caught.

Have a good one.
Texeye

[experiment]

Acctually that situation could come into play in big tourneys. Hypothetically....tourney has a no fish over 20" rule...angler catches a fish that is 20 1/8th inches...said angler thinks hmm...I'll put that fish on ice to shrink it and make it come under the 20inch rule, and take the dead fish penalty.

[Texeye UL]

I guess I don't think like that. Never needed or had the desire to cheat... I suppose there are exceptions to every rule.

Have a good one.
Texeye

[experiement]

Well, I think that is totally wrong too. I guess I was more interested in if the fish would acctually shrink or not, after it has been put on ice.

[Terhune]

>;)
>
>Now we talking negative net numbers, Jim. ;)

Was the water cold enough to damage your ovaries? LOL I used to tell my boys that one. They weren't sure if dad was bsing or not.

[ice em]

Please explain why the shrinking of a fish would be cheating????

[Jim Carroll]

There are rules against killing fish on the top professional tours.

The FLW rules are:

16. Live fish

Every effort must be made to keep fish alive through the use of a properly aerated livewell.


The PWT rules are:

B. All Professional Walleye Trail tournament contestants will maximize the release of fish.

I interpret these rules as it's the angler's professional responsibility to keep his fish alive. Any deliberate act to kill a fish and alter it's length would be against the spirit of these rules by my reading. All catch and release tournaments should have similar rules IMHO.

Jim Carroll NPAA #13

[experiment]

I also believe it says somewhere in the rules, that a fish may not be altered to affect the length?? Would putting a fish on ice constitute "altering" the length? I guess one would have to first prove if indeed icing a fish does alter the length.