Big topic here - as results often vary and discussions are not unseen about the weight of a fish.
Yes, pictures are deciding and misleading, but scales are as well.
A German group, famous for their absolute unique podcast had a professional test scales for carp fishing, this was not performed fully official as it would have cost a fortune, but still as professional as possible by the high German standards.
What they found is a huge discrepancy on scales, all of them.
Most important though is that you need to know on how to correctly handle a scale to get more accurate results - or for some, how to cheat best.. lol..
Read the article from the link below for details, let your browser translate it, works pretty well if needed.
One thing I want to mention, use a weighting bar, a weighting stick or better a tripod to get more accurate results, but read for yourself.
https://carpy-online.de/2022/04/11/test/
Florian Rossmark
Germany / USA - Carp Angler
