fred chill man, every day the postman delivers my post to the next road even the bills when you complain they just say its england innit ps i hope you and stafford moor buddy havent fallen out over a few ounces lol

Was the scalesman just one of the anglers if so then you can’t expect perfection but you do deserve it.

Regardless of that fact, it is vital in my opinion that you re-zero the scales before every weigh, as the weigh net will hold water as the slime increases and a tripod is essential for a steady reading. The same person who zeros the scales should also call the weight to another angler who has got the weigh sheet.

I’m for the match organisers sorting the weigh ins themselves and doing the zero before weigh. You can’t rely on Joe Soap just because he drew the scales to know what he’s doing. Sometimes the thickest end of a pole is the angler holding it.

I had an incident a few years ago at boddingtons. Was fishing as a guest in an invitation match i had 2 nets out, one had all the normal size fish in (about 4-6lb then) and i had another net with 2 lumps between 9-11lb and 1 normal size fish. When the scales came round (digital) the first net weighed 65lb ish then they weighed the second net and the bloke only gave me 14lb. I hadnt payed much attention until it was too late and the fish had gone back. Think the bloke must have knocked the kilo button and not realised. Wouldnt of won me the match but was good enough for third place. As i was a guest i didnt really want to make an issue of it

The problem is Fred,most people who do have a difficulty in counting ect,wont own up to it.in my time i have come across loads of people who have never used scales ect before.I have allways thought,dedicated experianced scalesmen are the way to go especially in team matches.I remember well as you probably do, the Bun fights we used to have over winter league weighing.I can remember it well,dont argue with me I’m the scalesman,wright your complaint down and we’l thrash it out at HQ.Days that are now in my distant past, thank God. Nowdays i fish for the the Crack mostly,though me and all my old mates are just as competitive as we ever where.~clap

Harsh as it is Fred its Your responsibility to ensure its recorded correctly.

Nice weight from the canal though top Bombing

Remember the near incident at Woodland View Fred? How many times do people mess weigh ins up? I can`t believe it really because in match fishing surely the weigh in is the most important part of the day?

Hard luck Fred. I have done LOTs of weighing, and i all-ways zero every angler and every weigh (if he has 2)
If its a consolation, the scales are only moved an ounce or two, so the 4 ounces would have beaten you, even if he had been given 2, but he may have lost 2!

I have seen it at Larford one day, 104lb was weighed, then 103, then on a weigh the scales packed up, so he changed the battery, and picked the weigh net back up, i protested, that he must put the fish back in the keepnet and re-zero the net, but he didn’t, and the angler went on to weigh 105 and win the match! He would have lost over a pound if the net was weighed!

Fred, more fool you mate for not paying enough attention to what the scalesman was up to. I would have checked the addition of the two weights myself and corrected him immediately, it only takes a moment.

The only consolation is it wouldn’t have cost you the win, as those scales wouldn’t have been 4oz out after weighing in one 15lb bag (assuming they were zeroed before the 1st net of fish was weighed).

Great net of fish though and hopefully you will still have fond memories of your day out.

In the opinion of those scalesmen who regularly weigh in matches, if the scales were accidently dropped, say from waist height whilst walking between one angler who just weighed in to the the next, is there any chance they would be 4lb OVER when they come to be zero’d before that next angler had been weighed?

great subject and bloody annoying, I don’t post often but couldn’t resist this one.
I fish an AT winter league every year, no chance of winning as a team but we put a lot of effort in and occassionaly have a triumph over some very big teams, half the England squad in them. This year just past it was a relatively hard day and the usual weigh was going on, as a standard the pegs for scales and marking are chosen in advance, it comes to me and get weighed , fine not done too badly, next peg they started to weigh , he had a similar net of fish (a very senior member of a very senior team!) they put the fish in the weigh net , waiting for the bag of roach to stop bouncing , it’s clearly hovering a few ounces below mine, before it could be completely steady the angler grabbed the weigh net before it had properly settled, called the weight and plonked the fish back double quick, to me it seamed this guy clearly didn’t want to be beaten, obviously, but “fair play” was not on his agender , he knew he was slightly under my weight and grabbed the net as quick as possible before anyone could say anything, the weight he called was bang on mine so we drew!
No body, including me, stopped him, if you knew who then maybe would understand why, we were cowards, i was a coward!!

Hi Fred you forgot to say without that poxy scales man lending you a landing net you wouldn’t be weighing anything in ****** (dont go swearing again or i’ll take further actions)

Hi Fred you forgot to say without that pox scales man lending you a landing net you wouldn’t be weighing anything in ****** (dont go swearing again or i’ll take further actions)

Hi Fred you forgot to say without that pox scales man lending you a landing net you wouldn’t be weighing anything in ****** (dont go swearing again or i’ll take further actions)

@harrytom0 wrote:

Hi Fred you forgot to say without that pox scales man lending you a landing net you wouldn’t be weighing anything in *******

So now the story has a new twist – so intriguing that it has to be repeated. ~think ~think

@Waveney One wrote:

@harrytom0 wrote:

Hi Fred you forgot to say without that pox scales man lending you a landing net you wouldn’t be weighing anything in *****

So now the story has a new twist – so intriguing that it has to be repeated. ~think ~think

so now the story has a new twist.so intriguing that it has to be repeated!

Thanks for repeating that mart 16!

I see Fred is relenting a little now the scars are healing. He had a point though, weighing in is one of the most important part of matches. People should take it seriously even though none of us like doing that.

Well done for correcting the original posting Fred and pointing out the erroneous one. I enjoyed the thread anyway and facts have never stood in the way of a good fisherman’s story!

The only thing youve done wrong Fred is not resolve the issue as the time of the weigh in, as fas as im concerned you enter open matches/team matches knowing that you might just get the scales so you should know how to use them, its also upto the organiser to state on the weigh board that the scales should be zeroed after every weigh.

@harrytom0 wrote:

Hi Fred you forgot to say without that poxy scales man lending you a landing net you wouldn’t be weighing anything in ********

Whether right or wrong Fred treats people properly. You on the other hand act like a moron throwing child like insults.

at a recent match it started raining in the final 10 minutes. The scalesman was on the next peg. He had I reckon 30+lb . I was gutted when he started weighing in in the other direction round the lake as I was getting soaked.. After a couple of other weighs by anglers who in my judgement had battered me, he finally reached me. I took a quick glance at the score sheet and 3 anglers had the same weight 20lb 12oz.The rest were in low double to single figures.
I stuck 19lb in the net, released them, and then weighed the remainder to finish with 32lb…..

20lb max scales. double DOH!

Although a lot of matches have nominated pegs to take scales and weigh sheet the people that draw them are often not “seasoned” match anglers that are used to the job. This used to be the case in a club I used to fish with and as I knew the score I used to offer to take over the scales job to ensure it was done correctly. Perhaps this would have been a good option on your match Fred because from what you have said the chap was struggling and possibly embarrassed at his inexperience.~think

Yep well said Neil, i allways offer to help even if i havent drawn the scales, i like doing it, i like seeing the fish!

As for Simons story thats amazing, 20lb scales and all the guys bottomed out at 20.12, lol, and no one realised!

I remember drawing sclaes in a winter league , i always zerod the scales after each angler i weighed, one lad had one of those nets that hold lots of water and after looking at the weigh sheet waited till the weigh net was ready , pulled out his net and poured in his fish and laods of water, i took my time reading it and he said” hurrey up all the waters draining Out” , i said i know , i waiting to weigh the fish!