How to prep your White Marlin for the weigh in?

[Squidnation]

I have heard a ton of theories as to how to prep your white marlin for the weigh in. We all know that they can lose a significant amount of weight once boated. So Lets here it. IF you are one of the lucky ones that gets to boat a white in this tournament, how would you prep it for weigh in?

[knot for shore]

I think really all you can do is try and keep it as wet as possible and as cold as possible. Get it in a fish bag surrounded by ice or if you have no bag, wrap it in wet cold towls and try to keep the sun off it.

[marlinrojo]

Gut the fish and bleed him out real good!!!!

[Squidnation]

Gut the fish and bleed him out real good!!!!

you are my idol!

[JimmyC]

There was an article in Marlin Magazine a couple of months ago that said that fish really don't lose weight on the ride in. In fact they went on to say that if you catch one, you should keep on fishing for another one. They said that a fish will lose the same amount of weight regardless of if it is packed in ice, wet towel, etc. as it would just left on the deck.

[N2theBlue]

i find that hard to believe unless you aren't gaffing the fish. and i guess with whites you don't really need to.

[knot for shore]

To me, wet flesh = weight retention while dry flesh = weight loss. The loss / retention may not be that significant in the big scheme of things though when talking about between the amount of time the fish has been dead and the time it hangs on the scale. A good thing to know too, is how the scales work. Does the tournament take the weight down to the nearest 10th, 100th, 1000th????......

[SharkJP]

very interested to hear some of these theories

[N2theBlue]

precision of the scale is huge, in king tournaments they often measure to the 1/100th of a pound so every little bit counts. I know of some guys who plug the gaff holes with tampons to conserve every little bit, and sometimes it matters. Billfish tourny's if the scale only measures to the 1/2 pound it may not make as much of a difference, but every half pound could mean a lot of money, even a 1/10th of a pound depending on how the scale rounds. And like knot for shore said, that little bit of water that gets dried out of the fish from sitting on deck may make the difference.

[Squidnation]

i would think a tampon woud absorb the blood therefore taking it off the fish. i wonder if a dab of NuSkin would help.

also stopping the heart would be key. how bout a quick shot of tequella to the gills. that will stone any fish

now i dont know if any of this is tourney legal but i think it would help stop bleeding