Fishing is hardly ever a paying proposition unless you buy a commercial permit and thousands of dollars worth of nets. This year, however, catfish anglers on several rivers could catch fish worth enough money to buy a lot of hooks and bait.
In its continuing effort to put catfish management on a firm scientific footing, the Department of Conservation has placed tags on thousands of blue and flathead catfish in lakes and streams throughout the state. Until now, those tags carried a $25 or $50 reward for anglers who reported catching the fish that carried them. This year, the agency is raising the ante.
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Fish tagging is a time-honored method of learning how long fish live, how fast they grow, where they go and other useful information for fisheries managers. This information comes from anglers who catch tagged fish and return the tags following instructions printed on the tags.
The percentage of tagged fish caught and reported by anglers gives biologists a rough idea of what percentage of the overall fish population is caught by anglers each year. Knowing angler harvest rates is very helpful when establishing fishing regulations.
Tag returns from anglers can underestimate the actual harvest, however. Some anglers are glad to report tagged fish in return for information they get back about the fish they caught. For others, however, even a $25 reward isn’t enough incentive to make a phone call and mail in a tag. Determining non-returns is a key part of every fish tagging study. So is estimating the number of non-returns accurately.
To get a better handle on the number of non-returns, the Conservation Department is offering a $150 reward for some tags. The assumption is that almost every angler will return a tag for that amount. Comparing the rate of return on $25 and $150 tags will tell researchers what percentage of fish with $25 tags are not being reported when anglers catch them.
Conservation Department workers have tagged more than 6,000 flathead and blue catfish combined that are 15 inches and larger in recent years. Most of those tags have rewards of $25 or $50. The reward amount and the phone number to call are printed on the tags. Anglers also need to report when, where and how each fish was caught and its length.
The “dangler” tags are small plastic ovals attached just under the dorsal fin on top of fishes’ backs. Tagged catfish are swimming in Truman Reservoir and parts of the Fabius, Gasconade, Grand, Lamine, Marmaton, Platte, South Grand River, the upper Mississippi River and the Missouri River around the mouths of the Platte, Grand, Lamine and Gasconade rivers.
Anglers don’t have to keep a fish to get the reward. If you catch an 18-inch flathead and choose to release it, all you have to do is clip off the tag and send it in. You will get the reward marked on the tag, along with a letter describing where the fish was tagged. You get the tag back, too, because some people like to have them for keepsakes.
You probably won’t get rich fishing for tagged fish, so don’t quit your job, yet. However, a $150 tag will pay for a few more gallons of gas, so you can continue your quest for “money fish.”
Jeff Berti is the Grundy County Consevation Agent and can be contacted at 359-6288.
