Anyone have a lot of experience tagging cnbg and res? Do you have a source for buying a tagging kit? With my 2 acre pond not even a year old...I thought it might be fun to tag a few to help keep records. I already record every fish I catch and get relative weights. Any suggestions?

Flame, I don't have a bunch of experience, just started tagging this year. Lm. I tagged 24 fish this year in a 4 acre pond and re caught 3 or 4 of them already. It is mostly for fun, at least I think it is. My tagging kit came from n8tly's business. Herman bro's. A gun with 25 tags and easy instructions.

I also keep records on all fish caught. I am not sure what the tag info will tell me long term, but I do plan on continuing to tag at about 5 or 6 fish per year going forward. You can order different colored tags, or just get higher numbers.

Hope this helps you make your decision.

Cmm

Hole punch in different fins?

I would think...if a person had a second pond...putting the ones caught more than once in there to breed would be the start of an aggressive strain of fish.

Sean

Anyone have a link or contact info where I can order the tag gun and tags too? Think a lot of folks would like to get into it, like me just don't know where to get the gear

When tagging for the state salt water program the gun for smaller fish was just a common T tag applicator that they use to tag clothes etc. The tags however had consecutive numbers and were made for fish tagging . But you may be able to get them in different colors.

one Google and here are the tags
http://www.hallprint.com/fish-tag-products/2014/8/26/t-bar-anchor-tags

I bought mine a number of years ago from Greg Grimes.

http://lakework.com/cart/index.php?p=product&id=29&parent=0

He also has/had floy tags that weren't numbered.

Greg Grimes at Lakework sells the kit that I use:
http://lakework.com/cart/index.php?p=product&id=29&parent=0

Thanks everyone.I will consider more. Had no idea it would cost upwards of $200 with 50 tags!!

The only problem with hole punching fins is, they regrow over time. They will also rip and it can be hard to tell if it was a punch. Some clip certain fins that will not hinder the fish.

Flame,

Did you ever tag any of your fish?

Just curious, I recaught 2 tagged fish yesterday and one the day before. I like watching the progress.

I am interested in this as well. How easy is it to injure/kill a fish when tagging it?

CMM, I did not tag any fish. I still think it would be fun but I still record most fish caught {even though they don't ever have much to say)... get it? Anyway, am waiting until May 1'st to strongly fish for my Florid lmb to see how they are doing. Wanted to wait until they were for sure in post spawn. I hope to have some 2 pounders at least. How have your tagged fish progressed?

Greg's shopping part of the forum is under construction.

Tagging a fish means putting a "T" shaped small piece of plastic through the skin and through part of the spiny or soft dorsal fin that is under the skin, and letting the top of the "T" turn sideways so it doesn't pull out. Usually you remove a scale in that area so the needle can go in, or slide it between 2 scales.

You know the plastic tags that are on clothes? The part that is pushed through the clothes is the same size that is pushed into the fish, and the thin part that holds the tag on clothes is identical to the thin part that holds the tag on fish.

You can get colored non-numbered tags, or colored and numbered floy tags.

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-7...mp;gclsrc=aw.ds

Tagging gun

They are also called "T" bar tags: floy tags

Flame, I see most fish tagged increasing in length, weight, and wr. Of the 30 or so tagged, about 10 of them have been caught multiple times. Usually in the same area of my 4 acre pond. One I caught a few days ago was tagged 2 years ago and the tag area was very irritated. May be stress from spawning. Otherwise healthy and good wr, 92% just post spawn.

It adds real excitement for me to land a tagged fish.

I think in most states, only one party has to agree to recording, check state laws. Hee hee.

I see... It doesn't look difficult. With Trout I wouldn't have to worry about scales. Is it not a problem "handling" the fish that much? I would really like to tag all the Trout we stock this year. I just worry about transporting them ~5 hours and then manhandling them all to get them tagged. It would suck if I ended up killing a bunch!

clothes taggers and tags are very cheap on ebay. Could consider colored tags or adding an additional mark to track stocking dates.

I saw the bluegill in the Camaro user post that had a purple spot on the cheek. That looked as if the surface of the cheek had worn away and showed the purple 'healing' underneath?

It made me wonder if it was possible to use a small 'brand' (use a butane grill lighter to heat up aluminum wire or copper wire to make a small mark or scribe a small number for the year on the cheek or tail or belly)? Perhaps an empty hot glue gun would leave a perfect circle brand if you apply the tip and you could make a code (1 circle for 2017, 2 circles for 2018 etc) or perhaps use the tools they give for wood burning or leather burning?

Put the fish on a wet surface, and have wet hands. You can also use a bit of clove oil to slow them down a bit. You get faster with experience, I can tag fish about as fast as they are slapped on the table. Takes longer to read the floy tag number and write it down (by a different person - fish slime, pens and paper don't play well together, not even "write in the rain" stuff...)

Colored, non-numbered tags for just tagging fish stocked at a certain time or "batch", numbered floy tags to track weights and lengths of individual fish. Not all tags will stay in for the life of the fish, I don't know why. I have seen tags that were 5 years old and had to have algae scraped off of them so they could be read.

Never thought of that before!! very useful info thank you so much for sharing!