Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
There are not many fish left in the sea that don't have some kind of size limit on them so these days, more than ever, anglers know never to be without some kind of measuring device and the means to use it on whatever fish they might consider bringing home. Before anything hits the ice, fishermen must first make sure it "makes the grade" by laying it on a measuring board or dragging a tape across it.
Of course, fish that prove to be short of legal size need to be released in a healthy condition so that they will survive the encounter and hopefully return to a hook someday when they are of "keeper" size. But as we all know, fish don't always cooperate with the measuring process. They’ll flip, squirm, slime you up and kick blood all over you. Getting a fish properly measured without it beating itself up too much can be not only challenging, but also a test of ones patience! With practice, anglers are usually able to work out some kind of routine with whatever species they usually catch that allows them to get their catch in, measured and then boxed or released in a timely manor without too much mayhem. Such efficiency ends up being both good for the fish and the fisherman.
When we think about measuring fish, an image that probably comes to most angler's minds is that of measuring ones that they can pick up and hold like flounder, rockfish, sea bass and any other relatively small to medium size catch. But now, more then ever, even offshore anglers who pursue big-big fish are finding themselves trying to follow regulations that necessitate the accurate measuring of their catch. Dealing with a 2 to 3-foot fish can be challenging enough, but trying to measure a 5 to 10-foot critter that might not be in the best of spirits is a whole different story altogether!
Tuna, billfish and sharks are the big guys that provide local anglers with the most measuring problems. To complicate matters, regulations also require that none of these fish be taken out of the water if they are going to be released. That regulation translates into anglers trying to accurately measure their catch while it's in the water, which can prove to be very challenging when dealing with a few hundred pounds of frisky fish from a high-sided boat on a choppy day! But size limits are size limits, and if the regulation says that the tuna must be on one side or the other of 47-inches, or the mako shark must be greater then 83-inches, then all a fishermen can do to stay on the right side of the law is to do their best to get that measurement one way or the other, and over the years anglers have come up with a variety of tricks and tools to make accurate in-water assessments of the length of their big fish.
Unless one is fishing from a very low-sided boat and every fish they catch comes in very calm, hanging over the side while trying to stretch a tape measure from nose to the fork of the tail is rarely an effective way to get a good measurement. Anglers can overcome some of the pitfalls of this type of measuring by affixing a calibrated scale of sorts to the side of their boat close to the waterline in the form of stick-on vinyl numbers and marks that essentially turn the side of their boat into a great big ruler. However, depending upon how many different measurements they will need to take, anglers might only need to affix one or two numbers or marks to their boat to get the specific measurements needed to identify legal size fish.
Another way to determine if a fish is "long-enough" is to make a measuring line that is exactly the length needed for compliance. One end of the line can have a snap on it that will allow it to be attached to a pole that will be brought down close to the fish's nose while the other end should have some kind of brightly colored trolling skirt or hookless lure that will add a little bit of drag in the water and pull the line straight, making it be easy to see. With the boat moving slowly forward and the fish leadered up alongside, the pole is brought to the front of the fish and the line is allowed to flow down its side. If the skirt or lure passes behind the fork of the tail it will alert anglers that the fish is too small.
A third way to measure fish in the water is to have a long, stout pole that is either calibrated with measurements or is cut to an exact length. With the fish stretched out alongside the boat, one end of the pole can be held at the fish's nose and anglers can look to see if the other end extends beyond the fork of the tail. If the fork-length is longer than the pole it indicates that the fish exceeded the minimum size.
All three of those methods will work at getting an "estimate" of the fish's length. However, if the fish is somewhat close to the legal size limit, the only sure way to know if it is legal or not is haul it onto the deck and accurately run a tape measure down its side. But as gaffing, tail-roping and heaving might be needed to get some big fish up on deck, it could also end up killing it. Anglers should make every effort possible to get as accurate an estimate of length as they can before opting to boat rather than to release a big fish.
There's no one best measuring method that will work for every fish from every boat under every situation, but rather than scrambling around and trying to "figure something out" at the last minute, all anglers who target big fish should be prepared with some kind of a "plan" and the "necessary tools" they might need - just in case.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
