Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: TNAngler on September 23, 2013, 10:41:53 AM

Title: Weight of fish
Post by: TNAngler on September 23, 2013, 10:41:53 AM
I have a queston that confuses me.  Being from the states, I am used to refering to the weight of a fish in pounds.  It seems like Canadians use kilos for most everything else but most reports of weight I hear are in pounds.  Is it just a thing where you are too lazy to try and explain the conversion to the dumb Americans or is that how you actually think about the weight of fish?  I don't think I have ever heard a fish referred to in a metric weight system.
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: fisherforever on September 23, 2013, 10:55:13 AM
I'm old (61) haha. Still use pounds. As HKSR points out - to convert pounds to kilos divide pounds by kilos 8.8lb divided by 2.2 = 4K and to convert kilos to pounds - multiply kilos X 2.2 = pounds. 4K X 2.2lb = 8.8 lb
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: salmonrook on September 23, 2013, 11:07:10 AM
Referring to a fish in pounds is traditional ,we have had the metric system here since the mid seventies.(Its in Europe as well)I learned in grade school and it was new for me .I think you'll find some people when  refering to  weight ,even when purchasing items @ the grocery store,they convert it to pounds . Some grocery products are even sold in pounds still.
 When talking about a 1,2  5 pound fish, I think it has more to do with the length and girth or how big the the fish looks
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: HKSR on September 23, 2013, 11:35:25 AM
I'm old (61) haha. Still use pounds but to covert to metric is easy, just multiply pounds by 2.2 to get kilograms

I think you wanna divide by 2.2, not multiply   ;D
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: TNAngler on September 23, 2013, 01:19:37 PM
Referring to a fish in pounds is traditional ,we have had the metric system here since the mid seventies.(Its in Europe as well)I learned in grade school and it was new for me .I think you'll find some people when  refering to  weight ,even when purchasing items @ the grocery store,they convert it to pounds . Some grocery products are even sold in pounds still.
 When talking about a 1,2  5 pound fish, I think it has more to do with the length and girth or how big the the fish looks

I understand the fisherman that have been fishing around since before the switch.  Is it more that everybody else still does it so newbies conform?  People I have known that have used kilos for everything else still use pounds for fish.
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: Tex on September 23, 2013, 01:22:11 PM
I rarely see anyone here in Canada use kilos for anything - weight of a fish, personal weight, how much does that motor weigh, etc.
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: HamidSeshadri on September 23, 2013, 01:29:13 PM
i think that pounds are easier to work with since they are a smaller unit of weight.
its hard to say 1/2 kilo, 3.5 kilos, but much easier to work with whole numbers, 2lbs 15lbs,..

but if you notice, you ask for your deli meats in grams, :o never heard anyone asking for anything in ounces..
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: TNAngler on September 23, 2013, 01:38:15 PM
i think that pounds are easier to work with since they are a smaller unit of weight.
its hard to say 1/2 kilo, 3.5 kilos, but much easier to work with whole numbers, 2lbs 15lbs,..

but if you notice, you ask for your deli meats in grams, :o never heard anyone asking for anything in ounces..

We use ounces, or actually pounds in the US everywhere I have gone.  I want a pound of roast beef, or half pound.
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: Tadpole on September 23, 2013, 02:30:43 PM
  USA is basically the only remaining country  in the World using old imperial system( Liberia and Burma are the only others) and they pay dearly for it. Hubble telescope is an example. There is nothing simpler than decimal system.
 In Canada only people not able to adapt use imperial  system   ;) :D. New generation like my kids(early 20ties) has no idea about Imperial system as it is not taught  anymore in schools. 
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: Sandman on September 23, 2013, 09:32:24 PM


Yes, and we still use inches for length too. No real reason for it other than it is familiar (our fathers used imperial and their father's did too).  If the gas station did not sell it in litres, we would probably buy gas by the gallon too.  Since there is no one forcing the metric system on the old school fishermen (does Fred's scale weigh in pounds or kilos?), they have been slow to convert.  Give it a generation or two and my son's son's fish will be a monstrous 40 cm and 500 grams!
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: bigblue on September 24, 2013, 09:46:37 AM
In all the years I have been fishing in Canada, I have yet to hear someone utter salmon/steelhead weight in kilos. It's going to take a long long time, if ever, to fully convert to metric mind set as old habits die hard.  Just my two cents. :)
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: chronic_topdawg on September 24, 2013, 10:19:05 AM
cocaine is the only thing I can think of sold by the kilo here lol, never heard anyone except Europeans talk about fish in kgs
:oOh Boy :o
yup I dont even lnow why my drivers is in kg.  Hell I grew up here and I have no clue about kg.  But I did learn from scrap metal entrepreneur that there is 2200 lbs in a ton, thought it was a 1000lbs,  well that little buisness was to much work for a six pack.
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: TNAngler on September 24, 2013, 10:23:33 AM
In all the years I have been fishing in Canada, I have yet to hear someone utter salmon/steelhead weight in kilos. It's going to take a long long time, if ever, to fully convert to metric mind set as old habits die hard.  Just my two cents. :)

The problem with fishing though is if you are communicating to another fisherman who only uses pounds, you will likely get used to using pounds instead too, in which case it might never go away.
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: Animal Chin on September 24, 2013, 10:47:31 AM
I'm Gen X and it's a hybrid, depends on the activities you do too. Way more familiar with pounds, feet and inches... but also kilometres and litres.... gallons, centimetres or miles kinda take me a while.

28 grams in an ounce, 16 ounces in a pound, 2.2 pounds in a kilogram.

1 litre of water weighs exactly 1 kilogram or 2.2 lbs (useful if you have to carry it), 1 yard is about 1 metre, and 1 metre is about 3 feet... so if it's 1000 m elevation gain that's about 3000 ft, or if the mountain is 5000 metres that's 15,000 ft so bring a warm sleeping bag. 1 mile is about 1.5 km (1.6 actually).

It's a pain but you gotta do what you gotta do. I like to blame the Americans for my confusion.

Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: TNAngler on September 24, 2013, 10:54:21 AM
It's a pain but you gotta do what you gotta do. I like to blame the Americans for my confusion.
We'll just blame the Mexicans so you might as well skip the middle step. :)
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: Sandman on September 24, 2013, 08:54:14 PM
:oOh Boy :o
yup I dont even lnow why my drivers is in kg.  Hell I grew up here and I have no clue about kg.  But I did learn from scrap metal entrepreneur that there is 2200 lbs in a ton, thought it was a 1000lbs,  well that little buisness was to much work for a six pack.

A short ton is 2000 pounds, a long ton is 2240 pounds, and metric tonne is 1000 kilos or 2204 pounds. 
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: losos on September 24, 2013, 09:10:44 PM
The problem with fishing though is if you are communicating to another fisherman who only uses pounds, you will likely get used to using pounds instead too, in which case it might never go away.

I think it has to do with higher number (in pounds),[which looks way better when story about catching fish is being told lol


"cocaine is the only thing I can think of sold by the kilo here lol, never heard anyone except Europeans talk about fish in kgs"

Never heard any European or any other national in Canada talking about fish weight in pounds.



I'm old (61) haha. Still use pounds. As HKSR points out - to convert pounds to kilos divide pounds by kilos 8.8lb divided by 2.2 = 4K and to convert kilos to pounds - multiply kilos X 2.2 = pounds. 4K X 2.2lb = 8.8 lb

how about this 1 pound is 0.454 grams. Multiply pounds i.e. 10 by 0.454 and you'll get kilograms (4.54 kg)
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: Sandman on September 24, 2013, 09:22:21 PM
how about this 1 pound is 0.454 grams. Multiply pounds i.e. 10 by 0.454 and you'll get kilograms (4.54 kg)

Sure but which is easier to remember?  2.2 or 0.454?
Title: Re: Weight of fish
Post by: losos on September 24, 2013, 09:27:38 PM
0.454 or if it's easier 0.5 since exact weight is not that important.After all fish will grow as time passes.