ML, I'm glad you brought up fin-clipping. We clipped the caudal fin on bass from different suppliers Do you think the clipped fin increases the chance of infection? Could having a clipped fin give that bass a disadvantage in mobility, resulting in less forage caught? Could clipping lead to morts in other ways?
Davatsa,
Good questions...and I can answer them from my own experience, which, of course, isn't sufficient for general truths. I haven't seen any evidence of infection, impaired mobility, or mortality in fin clipped LMB. I'm always careful to just clip the very tip of a pelvic fin and as the fish matures the fin grows but has a blunt end easily identifiable fin. The pelvic fins, in my observation, act as vertical stabilizers and provide some roll motion control and hence wouldn't seem to be as critical as say the caudal fin in terms of mobility.
The fin clip provides a lot of interesting data which can be used to evaluate fish types, fish suppliers, and effects of varying conditions in a pond. I think it helps make me a better pond meister than otherwise, IMO.
