Weighing fish is something all anglers will do at some point. It can be nice to know the weight of the fish if it's a special capture. It is a fairly straightforward process but it's easy to not weigh a fish accurately. Here is the best way to weigh a fish.

Zero Your Sling!

Firstly once the fish is in the net, put the sling in the lake and get it soaking wet. Once you've done this let the water drain and zero your scales to the wet sling. This will give you an accurate reading as the weight of the sling will be taken off the scales.

After this place your sling spread out, flat on the unhooking mat / cradle as this will make it easy to transfer the fish into the sling. Take the fish out of the water and transfer it from the net / retention sling into the sling you've zero'd. When weighing the fish, ensure it is completely off the bottom as this can alter the reading on the scales. Once you are satisfied you've got the weight of the fish then you've weighed the fish. Just make sure to zero the sling again after releasing the fish, so if the scales have moved for whatever reason you can get the weight right. If it has moved 2oz over then remove 2oz from the weight and if it's 2oz under then add 2oz to the weight!

Further Tips

The use of a bar for the scales will make the scales more stable. This makes it a lot easier to get an accurate and clear reading on the scales. If it's a big fish then the bar will have more effect at keeping the scales stable. As well as this, the bar makes it easier to support a bigger fish whilst weighing.

Having another angler watch you weigh the fish is always helpful. If your adrenaline is through the roof then you may not concentrate properly and can quite easily do something wrong without realising. Having another angler can ensure that you're weighing fish as accurately as possible.

Written By Rob Taylor