Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Clipping Bluegill fin

This weekend I am going to start removing the overpopulation of LMB in a two acre pond. 18 fishing kids for about 5 hours. Any bluegill caught will be released after measuring. I would like to clip a fin so I'll know if a bluegill is caught more than once. Which fin is the best to clip? (picture would be helpful). How long will the fin cut show until it grows back, if it does? I was planning on using some large fingernail clippers, is ther something better to use? Is there a better way to mark the bluegill? The pond will be fished hard this summer and I want to track the population as much as possible. This is my gathering information year to help decide what improvements I'll start next year.

Thanks for any information.

I'd snip a pelvic fin. Scissors might work too - something along the lines of kitchen shears.



Snip only one side and be consistent.

Is this the best advice for any fish Esshup?

I clipped the adipose fin on CC that I stocked in my pond in 2009. That allowed me to tell what year I stocked them. BG don't have an adipose fin.....

When I put LMB in a clients pond last year from 2 different suppliers, I clipped the left or right anal fin, depending on the supplier.

Like Bill says "it all depends".

do they grow back?

Here is an old thread that I found useful..

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.ph...true#Post316929

Bobby, again "it all depends." I wonder if folks get tired of that answer? Some grow back and are hard to recognize, some grow back but are easy to recognize, and some hardly grow back at all. Fish n chips posted the old thread with some pictures.

I have fin clipped LMB pelvic fins but never BG. If I did clip BG I would clip the top of the tail at a 45 degree angle (clip the top corner off). Because of BG fin structure and reliance on the pectoral and pelvic fins for directional movement (escape form predation), unlike LMB, my choice would be a small part of the tail. This is just my thought process and could be entirely wrong.

Thanks for the information everyone.

I think I'll go with ewest's suggestion to clip the upper tail unless someone comes up with a good reason not to. The mark only needs to last a few months so I can get a good idea of the population this summer. I'll keep detailed records and share them here for advice on the next steps.

Fin clipping of the back of the soft dorsal fin seemed to work well for Theo (see discussion and pics in Fish n Chips above link). IMO the back of the soft dorsal is less important in locomotion and manuvering compared to the other fins. I think the soft dorsal fin is an evolutionarily advanced version of the adipose fin of fishes such as trout, catfish, etc. The soft dorsal is I think more important for display and behavior than for maneuverability.