Gonna call it in today. It was one of those pink spaghetti like tags. It was on there for a while it was covered with marine growth somewhat faded and fell off with a slight tug. It was a little red around the tag hole but it didn't seem to bother him I guess. The tag and the fish were a little banged up. I had a hard time getting the numbers off of it and the fish had some minor bruising on his underside. Gay Head Light - 29" shore fish (released, of course)
Looks like a USF&W tag.

Nice Jim! Call 800-448-8322 with the info to get your certificate, and a choice of hat or striper pin. (If it were a green tag, there would have been $)

Yeah I just called them and I took the "pin" option. Given the number of fish I've caught in the many years of fishing, I am actually surpised that I never got a tag before. I was kind of excited. I hope they tell me where and when it was tagged.

I am surprised that you have never caught a tagged fish before. I have caught two on BI but not for a while now.

Ize guts a hand full of them. TBag was with me one night a few years ago and I got 2 in 1 night. A high 20# fish at the Narrow River in Narr and later that night about a 24 inch fish at Watch Hill. Two different tags. One pink and one yellow.
Now go buy a lottery ticket.

Caught bunches of them over the years, USF&WS, Hudson River tags, and American Littoral Society, which I had tagged a few fish for years ago.

Got hats, pins and a poster.

Folks up here say that the Hudson River population does not mix with the Chesapeake fish but one night several years back drifting eels in Barnstable Harbor, my bud Eric landed two tagged fish in a row. One had a Hudson River tag and the other the USFWS tag. I usually get a couple a year. Got 3 last year, all ALS yeloow tags.

I hate the way they do it with the tag thru the fished back and it's always nasty when you get one. I cut them off just to relieve the fish of the stress of the constant open wound.

ive only caught one tagged fish and its my pb... 28#... it was tagged off cape may, nj in 2004

Theres a program where kids in school can adopt a fish and name it, then theres a device on some bouys that sense when the fish swims by. So the school can have a fundraiser to sponser the research and they can track their fish on a map. Its a nice program, I remember seeing the list of fish names and one was "Bucktail Willy" and I thought to myself, I hope I catch that mofo when he's big and tasty!

Many years ago I helped develop a program where the enviro cops out of Hingham would donate the fish they confiscate to a drug rehab and the rehab would give them a receipt with size and other info on it. This way, three months later if the perp came into court wiith a smart azz lawyer to beat the case and get his gear back with no fine, there was actual evidence of the catch. I once got a fish with a tag that was in the fish for 11 years once. Hudson river fish that was 40" when the perp sshot it with a spear gun. He also got caught with short lobsters. come to think of it, we didn;t get the lobsters but the fish was eaten. It was a bely tag almost completely encased in a large wound from years of growth and gunk.

Hey Patrick I guess thats a win/win/lose situation - How bout a program to dispurse the confiscated gear to people who return tags : )

Caught on at WHill last year.
same thing, cut the tag b/c the wound was all infected and sore looking.

Put it in my wader pocket.
Lost the GDamn thing...
Oh well. at least the fish survived...

I never caught a tagged fish. This June I saw a tagged horsecrab and thought it would be pretty cool to call it in and see where it was tagged. I got the cert. lettter and a pin about 2 weeks ago. It was tagged 2 days before I spotted it in the exact same spot.

I finally got a tagged short a few years ago in Woods Hole(long overdue), they sent me the hat (kinda lame), I would of preferred the pin.

Got back the info on the fish.
tagged 10/25/06 by the NJ Dep of the F&W off barnaget inlet, NJ (IBSP, in the ocean) and was 28.37". The fish was 29.5" when I caught it off Gay Head on 8/08. It only grew 1.13" in almost 2 years?....whats wrong with that picture?:cool:
I asked for the pin but they sent me the hat. (it is a kind of cheap hat with a "SB conservation Participant" and a SB embroided on the hat...its OK, nothing I would buy though)

Got back the info on the fish.
tagged 10/25/06 by the NJ Dep of the F&W off barnaget inlet, NJ (IBSP, in the ocean) and was 28.37". The fish was 29.5" when I caught it off Gay Head on 8/08. It only grew 1.13" in almost 2 years?....whats wrong with that picture?:cool:

They only measure at the fork, whereas we usually do a complete length.

Got a tagged bluefish last year... I got the thing in and I was thinking to myself what idiot would tag bluefish.. I HAD to send it in just to see..

I never caught a tagged fish. This June I saw a tagged horsecrab and thought it would be pretty cool to call it in and see where it was tagged. I got the cert. lettter and a pin about 2 weeks ago. It was tagged 2 days before I spotted it in the exact same spot.


I found two horseshoe crabs with tags in July. Called in the info and just received two pins and certificates the other day. It's a high quality pin too.

Pam has me on record for recapturing my own tagged striper 16 months later! In June, 1997, I took a fish on a Rebel, daybreak, on the no. shore, MVI about 34". Two Octobers hence I caught a 36" fish at night on a white needlefish less than a quarter mile away from the first site. I recognized the tag and my peculiar tag knot; so, I was immediately suspicious. Brother Don was with me on this recapture.

We thought this was remarkable until Ms. Carlson informed us that this is a common enough occurrence-- same waters recapture. Capt. Al Anderson (Prowler) out of Snug Harbor has ALS tagged hundreds of stripers over his career, and he has recaptured several of his own fish.

I had a 24 lb. bass tagged at Squibnockett one October, and it was recaptured three days later at Block Island. Unfortunately, the second fisherman killed it.

So, Bonds to all wo love'em enough to release them.

This poorly aimed pic is a 36" fish I tagged at 4 AM this AM.