Tagged Striped Bass

I went out Striper fishing with Capt. M this weekend. Amazingly, both of us caught tagged stripers! M's fish had a pink string tag on its abdomen.The tag said, "REWARD Ph. 1-800-XXX-XXXX 000000" We kept the fish to report its measure. It was 16 pound 14 ounce heavy and 34 1/2 inches long. It was a big fish. Later I recovered the whole tag which was implanted under skin. The tag belonged to US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Considering of the shape of the tag, the fish might be farm-raised and released later for study. It is hard to imagine to implant this kind of tag onto wild catch; it requires small surgery. If I am wrong, please let me know. I am really curious how they planted this tag.

M called the number and informed catch location, time-date, weight and length. They offered a Striper hat as a reward. To be honest, Capt. M and I expected more (something like $500 cash reward, kikiki). But still nice!

I caught a small one, which has a yellow loop tag on its back. Because I was in rush to release it, I could not take a picture or measure it. Instead, I cut the tag to report. Actually, US FWS tag says "IF UNDERSIZE CUT OFF TAG -RELEASE FISH" So, I did that.

The tag belonged to the American Littoral Society. When I got back home I googled the society's information. Here is tagging related web page: http://www.littoralsociety.org/tagging_tagged_fish.aspx They have been doing tagging study for several years. At its website, you can see the data of tagging study. That is interesting. They do not offer a present like a hat, but they send information of the tagged fish; that's all I want! I downloaded and filled out their report form of tagged fish. I will see what I will hear from them. I will update you about it when I hear. It is such a good feeling to help conservation efforts.