I have clipped a lot of tail and sometimes dorsal fins on GSF and BG to make them easy prey although I have gotten lazy lately and done less of it. I find it easiest done by using a cheap pair of Harbor Freight scissors that are about 7" long. As I pull the fish out of the water if it is a size that I want to clip I just grab the fish in left hand while it is still on the hook, clip the desired fins with scissors, remove the hook and toss the fish back in. If you keep the scissors handy it takes less than 10 seconds per line caught fish. For most people probably 5 seconds but I am slow.
I do it as opposed to otherwise destroying a fish I was going to cull anyway. If the scissors are not handy I throw them on the bank for the raccoons.
I do not claim fin clipping is a major good or beneficial thing pond wise. I was just brought up by a depression era parents to not waste things and recycling the fish food I feed these fish by turning the unwanted fish into dedicated fish food just seemed like the right thing to do based on my upbringing. Or considering that I spend hundreds of dollars on fish food each year I am just too damn cheap to waste them.
Last edited by snrub; 05/12/18 10:53 AM.
