Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Marking Fish for Future Identification

There should be no fee for fin clipping. But, always let the hatchery you buy them from know exactly what you want before they load the tanks and head your way. That way there's no surprises. If you do it yourself, then orange handled Fiscars are the best shears I've used. You can get them in the sewing section of Wally World, and they're cheap, and come apart for cleaning.

Having said that, if fish stockings are rare, or unique to a situation like Tim K's, then fin clipping is just fine, and quick to do. Basically it tells you is that the fish wasn't born in your pond. But if you want to know when you stocked a fish, how much that fish weighed and how long it was at stocking, how much that particular fish grew in a year, or 5 years, what you were wearing when you got them, etc., etc., etc., then tagging is the way to go. The tag creates a UUID. That means a unique identifier that most likely will never be duplicated. Each fish you stock will have his/her own history from that point on.

EDIT: FishinRod, I'll try to answer what questions I can tomorrow. Going out this evening to pull CNBG for a neighbor.