Size is Relative

My biggest striped bass ever at 46"

Anyone on Facebook has seen pictures of someone holding fish. If you fish, you see it more often than those who don't. It's the comments on those pictures that sometimes interest me the most. The comments range from, "great job" to, "you should have put it back to grow up." As a fishing guide I get to fish with a ton of different people from very different backgrounds. Some of my clients fish more than others and they come from all over the country. My experiences as a guide often make me realize that the term big fish is a relative one.

There are two factors that can determine whether a fish is big or small; the location and the angler. Let's take striped bass for instance. Stripers are migratory. We see far fewer fish in New Hampshire than they see in Connecticut or New York. The overall size of the stripers in New Hampshire will be smaller than states to the south too. Your chance of catching a 50 pound fish in New York or Connecticut are relatively good. Your chances of catching one that big in New Hampshire are not as good. So, a big striper caught in New Hampshire may seem small to an angler south of New England. I have had photos posted on Facebook of mid-40" stripers that I caught criticized and called small by some southern anglers who obviously don't realize that catching a striper that is closer to 50" than 40" in New Hampshire is a special thing. A small fish in one geographic location is often huge in another.

Size is also relative to the angler. Some people fish more than others. I had a kayak fishing client (Mike) this summer. We were into some good schoolie action when he hooked into a schoolie on the larger side of what we had been catching. It was a 26" little porker. See, there I go calling it little. For Mike, it was the biggest fish he had ever caught. To him it was huge and he will remember it for the rest of his life. On most days I would have thrown that fish back, maybe even with a bit of frustration over the time it cost me, and kept fishing for a bigger one without giving it a thought. Having clients like Mike help me remember that there are people who don't have access to schools of blitzing stripers, or any stripers, who would kill for the opportunity to catch a 26" fish from a kayak.

A happy Mike P. with the biggest fish of his life

I recently saw a Facebook post by someone poking fun at another angler's joy over catching a largemouth that they angler considered a trophy. I guess to him it was a trophy. It's important for me to remember that size is relative. Anytime I can't feel happy for another angler who sets a new personal best, or catches a fish that they consider to be a trophy, then I know for sure that the problem is with me. I know the feeling of catching new personal bests. I also know the feeling when someone with access to bigger fish minimizes my success and feels the need to piss in my cornflakes.