Actually I used to do #1 until I dropped (read fish jumped off) another angler's 5+ lb bass in front of at least 20 people. Of course the girlfriend was there to take pictures before and after the incident which was pretty embarassing. After that I started to use the plastic Safeway bag as I've always keep a couple in the boat/tackle box for collecting trash, etc.

I too use the Berkley 20lb digital scale and have noticed that it reads 0.1 lb heavier from a 2lb calibrating weight after a couple of tall tales/bar room discussions about who "really" caught the bigger fish :). My only compaint is that the hook on the 20lb digital scale is a bit small, however the 50 lb scale has a nice one that doesn't look like it would slip. I'll keep using the one I have now, but if I had to purchase another one I'd probably go for the 50 lb scale.

Here's the one that I have:
http://www.basspro-shops.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=27865&hvarTarget=search

Just my $.02.

Vince
vince@theblankslate.com