There was a time - from land or kayak - when I refused to bring along a scale on my fishing excursions. Surely, I thought, a standardized measuring board is sufficient to document any notable catch, and provide enough evidence when I inevitably brag-post to the world of social media.
This mindset lasted for years, until I caught what was my personal best smallmouth bass, a species where the state record (7lbs2oz) is just within the realm of possibility given the number of 21"+ fish I've caught in pursuit of a true NJ giant.
My PB smallie was, truly, a freak of nature. It measured out to a little over 21.5", but the girth...was something I've never seen or felt on a smallmouth before. It looked like a lake Erie fish I've been pining over on youtube and instagram for years, and it was simply a different class of fish than all the other 21" bass I've caught in the past.
That very night I ordered two 15lb Boga Grips, one for me and one for my cousin. Length alone, I realized, was not enough to fully document a specimen like the pale beast of a smallie I caught that day - I definitely need a reliable scale to go along with the board.
This isn't a post about the Boga Grip per se, but after 4+ years of ownership, I can attest to the Boga Grip's reputation as 1) dead nuts accurate, and 2) dead nuts accurate after prolonged abuse. People bitch about not having a digital readout...and sure, there are digital scales considered gold standards of accuracy (Brecknell), but they require batteries, and apparently are not waterproof - easily disqualifying them for my needs. The Boga is quick, reliable, and doubles as a rotating pair of fish grips when the need arises. I really can't say enough about this now essential piece of kit in my bag, and it goes along on every single trip, even a short 40 minute bank session at the reservoir.
In any case, soon after buying the Boga Grip, I landed another "average" 21 inch smallmouth - measured it on the same board, then on the Boga and got a 5.5lb reading. Now I know for certain that the PB smallmouth I caught was over 6lbs, but what I don't know, and never will, is just how much over 6lbs it was. This would haunt me for the rest of my life, in fact just writing this blog post is bringing back intense feelings of regret :)
Happily, since that day, the Boga has more than paid for itself. Several 7lb+ shoremats were documented for my channel, and a couple high 6lb fluke that were barely over 23" - those appeared to be a cross between fluke and turbot...very tall, and very thick.
These are top of the bell curve fish - 99% of fluke will never attain 6lb+ weights at 23", let alone push 7lbs...but when you do land such a specimen, a length measurement alone simply doesn't do it justice. You really need both length and weight.
In the freshwater realm, I caught not one but two LMB over 7lbs in the span of a few months, each documented on my Boga Grip.
Not everyone needs to haul around a scale when they fish. If you're someone who truly don't care about size, and are happy to just catch fish...well, you probably didn't click on this blog post in the first place. But if you do care to document your big fish, if you need to know just how big your PB is and what it would take to break it...then not only should you carry that scale, you should carry the most reliable scale money can buy, and bring it with you every time you make a cast. After all, it doesn't take 10,000 casts to shatter your PB - it only takes one :)
