St. Charles, Mo catfish angler John Behiter Sr. has a penchant for conservation. When those cats are too big to hold vertically on a scale he uses a simple mathematical formula to calculate the weight. The result is not only an accurate weight in pounds, it is easy on the fish.
“If he or she is too big to hold up on a scale this method will work,” said Behiter. “I’ve checked this formula against a digital scale and it’s right on.
“Use a cloth tape measure to record the girth and length,” instructed Behiter. “The formula is ((girth x girth) x length) divided by 800. Then release the fish unharmed to fight another day!”
Pictured is a 55.7-pound blue that Behiter used the formula on. The difference between his formula calculated weight and a digital scale was only ounces.
The use of catch-photo-measure-release is a conservation action that any angler can practice and the measure method of estimating a weight is easy on the fish. CPR, it’s for the future.
