Ever feel like a fish is trying to say something?

[hooknose]

Caught a feisty, nice looking summer run around 12lbs the other day and it had a message for me...
had a dorsal wire tag, bent down for a closer look and it said "Please Release Me"    I did, but just made me wonder why they didn't leave it unclipped if it was important that the fish be released.  Was going to let it go anyway, thats the first dorsal wire tag fish I've encountered.  Wish I would have got a clearer pic of the tag, tough to do the picture thing by ones self.

My real question: Anyone here ever find out any info on a fish they've caught/retained that was tagged?

[Supertrout]

  I have found a lot of those tags on dead fish along the river, but never on one I caught. And I never found one that said please release me, just the name of the hatchery.  That is downright bizarre... Wild fish should come equipped with those things.

[RB]

Floated.over a chinook that had a tag on it. Talk about a zombie

[Sturzman]

Those are FLOY tags typically used in mark-recapture projects and as an aid in live fish surveys. They're applied at adult weirs/traps and not as juveniles, which is why your fish was still clipped. I work on a couple FLOY tagging projects and am sure if you get a hold of a regional biologist you can get more specifics.

[hooknose]

Thanks for the info Sturzman, I was thinking that it might have been tagged as an adult.  I'll try contacting one of the local wdfw biologists to see what they're studying.

[Fast- eddy]

Caught one on the Cowlitz river years ago that had a similar tag but had Kalama River written on it.

[wild rivers]

i got one on the kalama, i turned the tag in to the state and i got a bit of info on the fish. it wound up being a fish from the cowlitz and it was aged at 3 yrs old . kinda cool i thought

[SR paca]

The Trinity river system does this extensively.  Its like playing fish loto, some are $10, $20, and of course an occasional looser. Double jeopardy since the person with the tag has to buy the first round........   

They track the migration of the fish when they enter the system.  When you send in the tag, provide the date and place you caught the fish, they give you info on the fish.  My buddy Casey and I got a fish in a tiny tributary of the Trinity with one in it, which was pretty cool.  We then go back and look at the water conditions and note how we think the fish travel for future years.  These tags are put on wild and hatchery fish.

I'm not sure of all the programs in Wa/Or, but Rod Engle is a Wa fisheries biologist that has helped me with my questions on Condit Dam.  He would get right back to me, so he might be a good contact.  Nice guy

Rod_Engle@fws.gov

Was waiting for rain.......... now waiting for the drop.......

Have a fishy new year, If you see the plates SR PACA on a truck don't be afraid to start up a conversation......

Matt

[Koka]

The only tag I have ever seen like that was on a FAT rainbow trout in Merwin Reservoir. It was the $100.00 fish from the kids fishing derby that nobody caught. I took the wife and some friends fishing there the day after the derby, and she ended up catching it.......a day too late! No money for honey.