I would say mine was at 17-18lbs and my buddies might have been around 20lbs. I used to weigh them but that was the first yr I started to catch these critters. After awhile I stopped using the scale. I would just measure length and look at girth..... w/in 1lbs all the time. So I figured why stress the fish out by hangin them out of the water vertically. I did this several times and heard the vertibrae pop like an accordian........ measure B4 and after and the fish is now 1" longer. Can't be too healthy for the fish...... they might swim away but probabley die in the next few days. I want these beasts to swim away as healthy as possible..... So's I can hook'em again and again and again.
I'm looking at making a bag so the fish is supported for weighing...... also to keep the slime coat healthy and the mud off. Europeans use them for carp, but I'm not willing to pay that much. I make people 'cringe' when they see me coming down the bank to fishand its not always the smell of my bait[8D]. I use a gaff w/a 3' shaft, reach down the line and pop the hook out w/fish still in water. Its nice to use barbless hooks, alot easier on the fish. People think I'm gonna gaff'em to bring them up the bank. LOL