# Tagging fish?



## Supersnagger (Mar 30, 2009)

I want to tag the bass I add to my pond and possbly some of the other bass already in my pond. What is the best tagger? best tags? where do I tag the fish? Any other helpful info you may have for me. thanks


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## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

i helped my friend manage his pond this year and we were wondering the same thing, but never found any good method. what didnt work is trying to dye their fins with food coloring, but we were able to know several individual fish by names we eventually gave them based on a damaged fin, goofy looking patch of scales, and of course the biggest fish in the pond. i dont know your management plan and what you want, but my friend and i found that the overall picture was much more important than knowing individual fish. some advice i can give you is to keep a log book and measure and weigh the bass each and every time you catch one. by doing that you will know if your fish are doing well or not. if your 12 inch fish are staying at a constant 1 pound or so or putting on a bit of weight over the year, then they are doing fine. on the other hand, if your 18 inch bass used to be an average of 3lbs 6oz but are now 2lbs 5oz, then that indicates your fish are not healthy and in that case there is WAY too much competition for food and you need to thin some of the bass out! unfortunately you will not see results overnight, but watch over time and see if your management plan is working well. by the end of the summer we had a few of our 15 inch bass that looked almost like a football since we manage the bluegill properly in order to feed the big bass we want for the future. i am not claiming to be a profesional by any means, but i do have a 4 year degree in wildlife management and would be happy to answer any questions you have or share how my friend and i manage his pond. you are more than welcome to go into my picture album and look at what we pull out of those ponds so you can see what proper management can do. 18 inch bass were nothing uncommon and our biggest fish was a fish ohio 21 inches. hope the logbook idea helps!


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## ufaquaoiler (Jan 14, 2010)

ok finally figured out how to add a picture. that was the 21 inch bass in that pond i was telling you about. other than size, we were able to ID that fish very easily by looking at the tail. notice that its got a bit of a tear in the tail fin. give it time and you will grow em like that for sure!


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Other options to consider are freeze branding and chemical branding. These are more practical unless you really need to track individuals. They also won't fall off, get caught on stuff, and stuff won't grown on them like can happen with tags. Also branding is usually more economical.

Freeze branding is pretty cheap and easy but it's limited on how detailed of a mark you can leave. Think combinations of dots on different fins and the number of combinations is somewhat limited. I've heard it works better if not on an area with fins. It will probably last several years but it depends on the type of fish and location of branding. It's fast and an especially handy tool if you want to track a batch of stockers.

You can also chemically brand them with the silver nitrate sticks (wart removal kit). Similar results and limitations as cold branding just may not last quite as long and can cost more depending on the volume of fish you're doing. One fish at a time, this is probably more practical.


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## icebucketjohn (Dec 22, 2005)

I'd contact the local ODRN District office and talk with the Fish Biologists. They can tell you of suppliers of such gear & equipment.


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