| Joel: Sorry I still can't "reply" on any thread, but can start new, so will answer you questions to the Which Record thread here.
Last question first. No, Malo did not write a book about his fish, I did. After I spent a ton of money and time researching his fish, I published a booklet about my findings. That booklet, now out of print, is included in the 2nd edition of my book; "A Compendium of Musky Angling History". The scale used was a bathroom scale that showed only pound and half-pound marks. When the fish was weighed (on a board that was actually part of the scale-scale re-zeroed with the board on it), the indicator fell between the 69 1/2 and 70 pound hash marks on this scale. Minnesota weights and measures then checked the scale a total of 12 different times over a period of days (two different checks) and found that the scale repeated exactly the same EVERY TIME, and that was that it was weighing 8 ounces "slow" (light). When this 8 ounces is added to the KNOWN minimium of 69 1/2 pounds (nearest indicated weight BELOW where the indicator fell (which is what MUST be done when the indicator falls between two known increments, regardless of what those increments are), the MINIMUM weight of the Malo fish becomes 70 acceptable pounds, although it likely weighed closer to 70 1/4 pounds. This is the ONLY world record fish (world record as far as I am concerned) that I am aware of where the scale was CERTIFIED "after the fact", which is what I personally feel should be done on any record fish. Certification before a fish is weighed only suggests that "at that particular time" the scale was certified to weigh accurately. If one accepts only that, anything that may have happened to a scale AFTER certification (accidental or otherwise), goes unnoticed or unchecked!
Hope this clears things up for you.
Muskie regards,
Larry Ramsell
www.larryramsell.com |
