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Posts: 390
| Specifically I am wondering if anyone knows if all of the fish stocked on the bay of Green Bay have clipped fins? I have noticed about 1 out of ever 4 fish we catch on the bay has both fins remaining and it seems particularly common in one location that also has put out a few hybrids. Is it safe to assume these unclipped fish are natural reproduction? |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | I don't think they're using fin clips any longer to mark fish, I believe WI and most state agencies are using PIT tags. This will be true in most situations when angler feedback isn't required, when angler feedback is required most agencies will use Floy tags. |
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Posts: 390
| This last fall they definitely clipped the fins of every fish planted in the bay, I even have pictures of it. |
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Posts: 2753
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Something Muskie Mark our Muskies Matter Club President pointed out to me - re. DNR handling fingerlings for either fin clip or pit tag's: Its stressful for them, and lowers their survival rate. Do they also get infections from the DNR induced injuries? So our club doesn't touch any fish if at all possible..truck to bucket to new home water...It makes sense. The DNR can do their thing with their stocking, they have access to more fish, we stock 12->13" fingerlings at $10.00 each, so getting most bang for investment is important, if 1 in 5 die from handling we lose a 100 fish/$1000 dollars. We stocked 500 last year in Castle Rock & Lemonweir River. Sure they still face survival in their new home(s), but we like to think we are making a impact by not touching them..
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 1291
Location: Hayward, Wisconsin | A bigger impact is the finding here by the DNR that if the fingerlings aren't at least 13 inches long when stocked, their chances of survival are greatly lessened! Our Muskie's, Inc. chapter is paying to feed them later into the fall to increase size before stocking. |
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Posts: 390
| All the fish that were clipped in planting were larger fish (~12-16"), defenitely not fingerlings. |
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Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | bbeaupre - 3/11/2016 11:38 AM
All the fish that were clipped in planting were larger fish (~12-16"), defenitely not fingerlings.
My bad - obviously UWM has another definition.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fingerling
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 390
| Ok, well my musky semantics are obviously limited, but does anyone actually have any insight into the question? |
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Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Maybe these links can answer your question. I would suspect that they are either naturals or fingerling's that didn't get clipped or the clip wasn't severe enough and the fin grew back...
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/fishing/documents/musky/spottedmuskymanagem...
Read this thread - Tom Betka may be able to provide some insight on natural spawning locations relative to where you are catching them..
http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=74...
Have fun!
Al |
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Posts: 267
| Fin clipping is not effective unless it is done right because the fin will regenerate quite fully if done wrong. DNR personnel must make sure they clip the entire base of the fin off. If this is done, the fin will either be gone, or will grow back very deformed and will be easily recognizable. If not done correctly and the fin is not completely removed to the base, it will take a trained eye to see the mark. There will usually be a scar where the cut was made and then the fin will look fairly normal after the scar. Trained personnel can identify that scar and the new growth on the fin may be slightly shorter than normal or slightly deformed, or the new growth may grow on a different angle than normal. |
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Posts: 390
| Thanks for the info, ESOX Maniac and Smell_ESOX. |
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Stocked fisheries and clipped fins