Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Fish Tagging on the cheap?

I had a discussion recently with an older gentleman in regard to culling a large number of bass in my pond and replacing a small number of them with some new stockers (to diversify gene pool). I brought up that I would like to tag the newly stocked fish, so I could track their growth.

He suggested using a simple single hole paper punch to punch out a circle in the dorsal fins as a way to identify the new fish. Is this a good idea?

It's been a while since I did that but my recollection is that the a "hole" the dorsal fin will heal up within 3-4 weeks. I was checking re-capture rates via rod and reel to estimate the overall LMB population.

Shorty, I thought discussion here stated fin marks would be noticeable for at least 2-3 years. Maybe that was for clipped fins, not hole-punched ones?

If we can figure out what kind of fin mark to use, it would let you identify your new "genetic diversity" bass so you can keep them in the pond in the future.

Some PMs here keep track of different year classes of fish by clipping/holing different fins each year.

I am taking Fisheries Techniques this semester and we are using Dr. Willis' book. It says the best thing is cut the edge of the fin because it will be easier to identify when the fin grows back. Fins that are punched will be harder to distinguish later on.

Thanks, Chris.

So it sounds like the best method is to clip the fin. How much do you clip? hehe

Cut the back edge about half way down and perpendicular to the rays.

For example if the rays look like this, ///, cut from the top left to bottom right.

Chris - I don't know how I missed your reply for so long, but thank you for the advice!