The importance of a good set of scales
June 02, 2010
Call it what you like... a plea... a reminder... or simply just a request, please, please please any fishermen, & of course fisher ladies (although of course it’s well known that us girls are generally well prepared & don’t need reminding), coming to France for a spot of carp fishing do remember to bring with you a good set of scales capable of weighing up to at least 60lb.
What could be worse than catching a carp that you just know by the feel of it is going to be a new PB for you & when you come to weigh it the scales bottom out at 30 or 40lb… horrendous!!!
We had an occasion here quite recently where the guys had scales going up to 40lb so we had lent them ours to use (going to 60lb). One guy had a run in the middle of the night, he could feel it was a good size fish, duly landed it, weighed it, 39lb 8oz, pics took & returned it to the water. Then after all the rush & excitement had calmed down & everyone was fully awake he realised they had used his own 40lb scales instead of our 60lb ones!
He was, as you can imagine, quite gutted. The next day we put the photo on the computer to take a good look & see if we could recognise it by comparing it to photos on our captures board in the lodge. It was instantly identified by its distinctive markings as the 51lb carp that first came out in May 2009. It had bottomed out his 40lb scales & sadly we now have no way of knowing what it actually weighs until it comes out again.
On another more recent occasion we had a group of guys arrive all with scales only weighing up 30lb. Although we do have a set here for emergencies, one set between a party of 4 or 5 anglers really is not enough. I’m sure most other lake owners would echo my sentiments when I say do please invest in a good set of scales weighing up to at least 60lb.
Happy carping all & don’t forget your sun cream.