# weight to length



## riverKing

im usually pretty good at judging weight but i never caught fish up over 25 in or so. whats a fat 24in 26in 28in walleye weigh? i wanna have some opinions before i give my new biggest eye an official "guestaweight"


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## misfit

tough one,but just off the top of my head i'd say a fat one would maybe be 5-6 for 24"....6-8 for 26" and 10-11 for 28"


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## K gonefishin

The easiest way to tell how big an eye is subtract 20 from it's length, so if you got a 30 inch fish it would weight 10 pounds, 25 incher is about 5 pound, you can use this simple system with steelhead too. In the spring and fall walleye will weight more due to carrying eggs and in the fall due to them having there feed bags turned on, they won't vary a ton I have seen a 27 inch walleye weigh just over 9.3 pounds. and a 30 1/2 incher go 11.8 pounds, this was late fall. Summer fish might not even match the scale a 32 inch walleye might only go 10. if you use the -20 forumla you will be within 3/4 of pound 80% of the time.


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## Hook N Book

Seems to me, Lundy had posted a chart that gives average weight vs length and age. I'll see if I can find it and repost it.

Ooops, It's length to age but still can be helpful so here it is...!

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=3433&ppuser=41&sl=l


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## misfit

though i think there's a slight difference in length/weight ratio between walleyes and saugeyes(i could be wrong)here are a couple examples.
first is a 28 inch sugeye that weighed 10.4 pounds.caught in late november.
the second is a 28 incher that weighed 8.8 and was caught in june.over 1 1/2 pound difference mostly due to egg weight.


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## Toolman

That's a tough one. I think Rick was real close on the "average" fish. I've caught walleye that didn't make Fish Ohio length (28") that were over 10#and 32" fish that were barely over 10#. One factor is how much they have in their stomach. Another is if it has just dropped or has fully formed eggs. For example, this fall I caught a 23" fish that weighed 7.5# ! It had a very full belly and well developed egg sacs.

Tim


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## misfit

> For example, this fall I caught a 23" fish that weighed 7.5#


WOW!!!now that is a porker
i think weight could vary quite a bit from one day to the next on a cold weather fish.eggs will add a good bit,but if one just happens to go on a binge and gulps down a couple hefty shad,it could be an instant signifigant temporary weight gain.
i've seen 18 inch saugeyes spit up 8 inch shad when i put them on the stringer.
this reminds me of a flathead i caught a few years ago.we weighed it when it was landed after eating a large goldfish,and noticed a big tail(saugeye) sticking out of it's gullet.it weighed 43 pounds.next morning when taking pics,we weighed again.it had spit up the eye and lost 3 pounds in the process,LOL.


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## Fishin' Coach

Walleye central has a weight calculator

http://www.walleyecentral2.com/fish-weight.asp

I still say that it is only semi accurate there is a defferent difference wbetween a pre and post spawn fish


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## misfit

i think those calculators are basically intended for guesstimating what would be considered "average proportioned" fish,and definitely not meant to cover the spectrum.
as a further example,i caught a walleye from the dillon tailwaters over 25 years ago(post-spawn male) that measured over 27 inches.wanna guess the weight? 
several ounces less than 6 pounds on certified scales.that was one skinny fish,but shows just how much weight can vary under different conditions.


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## K gonefishin

I think my way of telling is the best and most accurate, give or take fall or spring pre-spawn is the only time it will vary considerable. If you want more accurate go buy a scale, they won't break the bank and even the spring loaded ones come very very close. I've compared spring versus digital and always within 1/2 pound usually.


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## misfit

kevin,i have to agree your system is pretty close for fish at those times.even after a good meal,most would only vary a few ounces.i rarely weigh my fish,as i'm just out there to enjoy the fun and food they supply.the only time do weigh any species(flatheads excepted) is if it is an oversized one and could be a personal best.
i still don't own a scale,but i can guess length pretty good(though i do carry a tape) so your system is close eneough for me


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## Hoss5355

Kgone, I would say that for walleye, the system you use is about the most accurate to guesstimate and not be far off. I don't weigh a lot of walleye either unless I think it will break 10 lbs. Most 30 inch plus fish break the 10 lb mark in my experience...(Erie eyes) Inland lakes seem to be a little less.


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## bkr43050

K gonefishin said:


> I think my way of telling is the best and most accurate, give or take fall or spring pre-spawn is the only time it will vary considerable. If you want more accurate go buy a scale, they won't break the bank and even the spring loaded ones come very very close. I've compared spring versus digital and always within 1/2 pound usually.


The biggest flaw in your system that I see is that a 20" fish weighs nothing.

That does seem to be a fairly good guess for fish 25" and up. As has been noted it is impossible to give a guess that is accurate because of the eggs and belly contents. If the girth is known then the guess could be made somewhat closely.


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## K gonefishin

For one.... who cares what a 20 inch fish weighs unless your in a tourney which I will admit I will weight a 20 incher and have a digital to do so.. but only if it's for money. I would say a 20 incher is about 2 pounds, This year on Erie you will be hard pressed to find a fish around 20 inches all the 2003 will be well aboce 20, last december the 2003 fish didn't even look like 2003 fish, due to eating alot and they reached sexual materity so they where carrying eggs and had the feed bag one... if we have a good 2007 hatch LOOK OUT, the population will triple with all new spawners, in 2003 what little females we did have in the lake, look at the impact they made, what if all the 2003 females plus all the others have a good spawn, we'll be limiting from shore with boogers on catfish hooks.


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