Quinte Fishing

Can anybody suggest a accurate scale? I have had the digital and standard spring scales from Rapala and Berkley. I have found both to be flaky, sometimes there dead on other times there off.

I'd hate to have a wrong reading on that 15lbs walleye when I finally catch it

i have had the same experience as you with the digital scale, i have two different berkely digital scales, and one rapala spring scale in my glove box. between them all they make up one reliable one lol.

I use berkleys. I have found using them over the summer with bass tournaments to weigh light. That is, I catch and weigh individual fish and then just add up the total to see what kind of weight I can expect to see at weigh-in time. The weights were consistently off by just shy of 2 lbs. I think they weigh light with smaller fish.

_________________
Dan Elliot - A bad day on Quinte is better than a good day at work !!!
http://www.quintefishing.com

We've used them all. Our fav and most consistant is the Cul-m-Rite.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpage-CMRXL.html

Although, for the T's all we use is the beam.

NICE!
Guess there is not much chance finding this in Canada eh?

The question of an accurate scale has been answered by the Chatellion scale. It is a brass spring scale and comes in different sizes. The 6 pound for weighing smaller fish has one ounce increments. The 12 pound that has two ounce increments and the 25 pound that has four ounce increments. The scale is often used by businesses and is recognized for it's accuracy. It is the official scale of Walleyes Unlimited, U.S.A. and is used by it's members to weigh their fish for the club contests. This scale runs in the neighborhood of $50, U.S. and is distributed by Koehler Scale, Inc. and their number is 888-245-9945. The scale weighs accurately in cold or warm weather.

We had 3 scales on my boat this past weekend, checking a few of the larger fish. Flaky wasn't the word I used to describe the different numbers between them. Factor in temperature, battery condition and wave action, I'm certain a few fish are bigger than what we weighed. Fortunately, our length and girth measurements tell us so, but I have access to a thermal chamber and certified 10lb weight that I will be checking here at work shortly.

We had one fish that was 32.5" long, 16.1" girth - one scale measured 10 lbs. 12oz, another 13 lbs. 2 oz. So we lost trust in the electronic digital scales. I will have a certified spring scale, maybe the one mentioned here, on my boat for next season to take all the guessing game out of it.

And for the people why I worry about this, is because we release all fish - we only have 1 chance to measure it correctly.

The Chatillion IS the way. They're pricey, but you only buy one. I'm keeping my eye open.

I don't trust the Berkley in the cold and have an old DeLiar as a backup.

Just my .02

_________________
David Delcloo aka Superdad
(Retired)

Kingston

I use a 50 LB Berkley, Seems to work well
any time of the year with a fresh battery once
a year.

Haven't had to pull it out for a Quinte Trophy,
I don't think I've caught anything over 12 lbs for a few
years.

I usually just let fish go as quick as possible no
matter what size it is.

BATMAN

BATMAN,

I also have a 50 lb digital Berkley scale. I recently thought that it was out of whack and didn't measure accurately. When I weighed my 10 lb cannonball it measured 8.6 lb. So I took the scale to my gym and measured the 5, 10, 25 (etc) pound plates and they all measured slightly different readings on the scale. Finally my brother (who works in the lab of a plastic packaging plant) tested the scale with various loads using some sensitive equipment at his work - the accuracy of the scale was astonishingly good!

Result? I have no clue. It seems to work well sometimes, and other times not. I will replace the battery and keep it inside my floater suit to keep it warm, at least that eliminates the "cold" factor.

Captain Hank

Had a Chatellion in my boat this weekend in the snow and freezing rain and felt it was very reliable in giving accurate weights. Bought one last year after advice on this Board from Targa 2.

I use a 5 lb cast iron weight to calibrate my Berkley 50lb scale now. Mind you, I didn't get the chance to try it out this fall in the cold......yet (here's hoping the weather is good the last week in December). So far it's been fairly accurate. I just don't have the confidence in the spring scales.

Ken

I,ve tried them all with the same problems. This year I purchased a set of Cul M Rite XL, they are available from a distibutor out of Montreal. No more pens and boards in the rain! These scales do it all and save alot of time, and are deadly accurate but not cheap at 300.00 a piece.

Gord

I finally had a chance to test two digital scales we were using, an older Normark 15 lb. and a newer Rapala 15 lb. scale.

Weights used are calibrated 1/6 mo.
Weight used - 10.302 lbs. or 10 lbs. 4.832 oz.

Ambient temperatures
Normark - 10 lb. 4 oz.
Rapala - 10 lb. 5 oz.

At 0 deg C: (Units cold soaked for 2 hours in Thermal Chamber)
Normark - 9 lb. 7 oz.
Rapala - 10 lb. 4 oz.

One scale had an 8% difference. We weighed alot of 11 + lbers. that are now considered 12+ lbers. Will have to check out the Cul-m rite setup. Sounds intriguing.

I use them both, Rapala and Berkley. I think I'll try something different too. They're always whacko, one way or another

_________________
WIG