How to increase the weight of your catch! Legally

[Moose1am]

HOW TO LEGALLY MAKE FRESH-WATER FISH WEIGH 30% MORE

Fresh-water fish records mean nothing at all unless you take into detailed consideration the length and girth of the fish as related to the normal measurements of that particular specie of fish. For example a 50 inch
northern pike will weigh between 35 to 40 pounds, a 50 inch lake trout about 40 pounds.

It is very easy to legally add weight to any fresh-water fish.

When two solutions are separated by a porous membrane, water will pass through the membrane until the solutions are of equal strength or concentrations. For example, water will pass from a lesser strength of salt solution into a solution of greater strength, thus increasing the volume and weight of the originally stronger solution. The process is known as osmosis. The skin of a fish is a porous membrane and since the juices in its body tissues constitute a stronger solution than in the surrounding water, there is a transfer of water through the fish's skin by osmosis, except for the presence of an exterior coating of slime which is not porous. When damage to this coat of slime occurs, either by physical damage or by damage due to bacterial or fungal action, osmosis does take place. Its extent depends upon the area of damage to the slime coating. You can rub off the slime coating with your hand. Where extensive areas of slime are removed, a very considerable increase in weight will occur in a fish that remains in fresh water and the increase will be as much as thirty percent through the ingress of water into the body tissues by osmosis. To increase the weight of any fresh-water game fish, simply rub off the slime coating on its body and let it remain in water until the fish gains the desired weight. In salt water the reverse, of course, is true and weight is lost, as slime is removed from a fish and the fish kept in salt water. In the case of salt water, the solution outside of the fish's skin is
stronger than the body fluids and after death breakdown of the slime coating is rapid in salt water. Salt-water fish lose weight rapidly when left in salt water.


Note: This paragraph below is talking about Salt Water fish and they differ in the way they
excrete or handle salt solution. But the principle of osmosis stands. Osmosis means that the two
solutions will try to neutralize each other or balance out the two solutions so that they become
one in the same concentration if allowed to flow between a membrane.

[fishingpox]

I hope by osmosis I'm able to understand that. J/K

[FalconSmitty]

so if I rub the slime off of my 7 crappie and soak them untill the weigh in they will weigh more and help my chances of winning?

[kunes]

HOW TO LEGALLY MAKE FRESH-WATER FISH WEIGH 30% MORE

Fresh-water fish records mean nothing at all unless you take into detailed consideration the length and girth of the fish as related to the normal measurements of that particular specie of fish. For example a 50 inch
northern pike will weigh between 35 to 40 pounds, a 50 inch lake trout about 40 pounds.

It is very easy to legally add weight to any fresh-water fish.

When two solutions are separated by a porous membrane, water will pass through the membrane until the solutions are of equal strength or concentrations. For example, water will pass from a lesser strength of salt solution into a solution of greater strength, thus increasing the volume and weight of the originally stronger solution. The process is known as osmosis. The skin of a fish is a porous membrane and since the juices in its body tissues constitute a stronger solution than in the surrounding water, there is a transfer of water through the fish's skin by osmosis, except for the presence of an exterior coating of slime which is not porous. When damage to this coat of slime occurs, either by physical damage or by damage due to bacterial or fungal action, osmosis does take place. Its extent depends upon the area of damage to the slime coating. You can rub off the slime coating with your hand. Where extensive areas of slime are removed, a very considerable increase in weight will occur in a fish that remains in fresh water and the increase will be as much as thirty percent through the ingress of water into the body tissues by osmosis. To increase the weight of any fresh-water game fish, simply rub off the slime coating on its body and let it remain in water until the fish gains the desired weight. In salt water the reverse, of course, is true and weight is lost, as slime is removed from a fish and the fish kept in salt water. In the case of salt water, the solution outside of the fish's skin is
stronger than the body fluids and after death breakdown of the slime coating is rapid in salt water. Salt-water fish lose weight rapidly when left in salt water.


Note: This paragraph below is talking about Salt Water fish and they differ in the way they
excrete or handle salt solution. But the principle of osmosis stands. Osmosis means that the two
solutions will try to neutralize each other or balance out the two solutions so that they become
one in the same concentration if allowed to flow between a membrane.

Don't believe it but will try it. Just need to catch a fish

[Roberta]

Moose, most tournaments want the fish to survive weigh-in for release back into the lake. Fish can't survive removal of the slime coat. That's why the DNR folks are always telling us not to overhandle fish that are going to be released. - Roberta

[Barnacle Bill]

Moose, most tournaments want the fish to survive weigh-in for release back into the lake. Fish can't survive removal of the slime coat. That's why the DNR folks are always telling us not to overhandle fish that are going to be released. - Roberta

I've read that in several places and I believe some bass tournaments go out of their way to ensure they are not handled unnecessarily.

[Bart]

The osmosis thing is what takes place when brining poultry in salt water before you cook it. It obsorbes moisture and helps to stay moist during the cooking process. I don't think removing slime is a good thing if you want to keep fish alive.

[Ranger375]

That maybe legal but I don't think it is ethical. I would think salt solution with any freshwater fish would kill the fish. The rules that bass tournaments have of penality for dead fish sure makes good sense to me. As good sportspeople should be doing all we can to improve not to artifically inflate weights. That in my book is like what we have seen in the past with business community involved wtih price fixing.

Enough said

[crappster]

ahhhhh....I have seen the light now. So you're saying I can wipe all the slime off the small crappie in my favorite crappie hole...let them go...and come back in a day or so when they are fattened up? I'm gonna do it.

[Moose1am]

Thanks for bringing that up. I was waiting for someone to catch this. I got this article out of an old Herters Field book. This book obviously was written long ago before we started having tournaments and long in the days when game and fish were more plentiful. Back in those days they were more interested in getting in the record books than winning tournaments.

I did want people to know this trick though. People may be using this trick and it's hard to catch. The fish will most certainly swell up and die later after release or even in the live well.

Now if you are going to eat the fish this may not be a good thing to do either as it may make the flesh Mushy with all the excess water that is absorbed into the fish when the slime covering is removed.

If you want to turn the fish back and let them live another year or so then I would NOT recommend removing the slime from the fish. I would handle the fish gently and by the mouth (crappie) to prevent removing the slime from the skin. Don't grab a muskey by the mouth though LOL You might get a handful of very sharp teeth. Only handle toothless fish by the mouths.

Some of the stuff in this Herters book is totally out of date but it's fun to see what they were telling people back in the 1960 as compared to today.

I think that the main reason I wanted to post this was to prove that when you soak fish in a Salt Water Baking Soda solution that the water will flow out of the filets and take the contaminates with it. By making the soaking solution have more salt than the fish the water will flow out of the fish instead of into the fish if you don't use salt water in the soln.

I know this concept is hard for me to grasp at times. Just remember this saying. The Solution to pollution is dilution.

Moose, most tournaments want the fish to survive weigh-in for release back into the lake. Fish can't survive removal of the slime coat. That's why the DNR folks are always telling us not to overhandle fish that are going to be released. - Roberta