I caught a tagged bass yesterday which makes six in pretty close to 30 years. This one was just a little skipper and carried a tag from the American Littoral Society ( Great org ) in it's back. I used to tag for those guys but let it slide for no reason.

I was just wondering who tags or who has recovered tagged fish. The last one I caught was tagged in the Hudson River and caught in the North River. It had only been three weeks since it had been tagged.

Any tagging stories guys???

I used to tag for the ALS, but stopped after I had a 45lb fish go permanently belly up one August night. In the summer, the time it takes to weigh, measure, record, and tag a fish adds to their mortality rate. I have also heard that the NMFS doesn't have much use for the data that private tagging programs generate, at least for Striped Bass.

I carry ALS tags; but I use them sparingly and always with forethought: I tend to tag only larger fish which seem to handle better on the beach rather than smaller ones that are able to do flips and somersaults while trying to work on them. I tag more when the water is cold; the fish definitely revive faster. I have the tag loaded and ready on a needle jammed into a wine cork. Getting a measurement is key for ALS tagging. Getting a fish weight is a luxury depending the fish and the conditions of the catch; so, don't jeapordize the fish for the release.

I have a bombproof method for weighing bass for release which I would like to share: I DO NOT use a boga grip. I think they are inaccurate, or more specifically, they are read inaccurately and rather optimistically by the angler focusing a line or three further down. I carry a 10/0 stainless steel tuna hook with the barb filed off. Poke this through the thin membrane just under the lower jaw. Now pull out your digital scale and loop it through the tuna hook eye...lift the fish NOT YET with the hook and scale, but rather thumb and fist. The fish may kick once or twice going from horizontal to vertical. EASE the weight of the fish from thumb grip on the jaw to the scale, get your digital reading, fish down and horizontal again-- all under 10 seconds. A couple of unexpected fish flops with just a tuna hook under the jaw is are darned site better than it thrashing around with a 3 pound boga grip attached to it.

Bonds to those who love cows enough to release them!

I've done some tagging for the ALS. I agree with the previous comment to tag when the water is cold. The fish tolerate the extra time out of the water better.

Also agree with the comment about not weighing the fish. Take an estimate. It takes too much time and is hard to weigh a flopping fish. Just get an accurate fork length and leave the weight blank.

I learned this from a friend of Cap'n Al Anderson, the tagging king...tag the fish between the hard and soft dorsal, NOT behind the soft dorsal, as the ALS recommends. You'll do a LOT less damage to the fish. Try it and you'll see. I will never tag a striper behind the soft dorsal again.