Heard from the DNR and got a Gift

[Rencoho]

Well I almost forgot about it, however in yesterdays mail I received word on a fish we caught out of the port of Ludington last summer. Whle cleaning fish at the Municpal Marina a lady from the fisheries office of DNR asked to see our catch whereby she noted one had a wire coded tag. She asked if I would like to receive information on this fish after the tag was processed, I said sure and gave her my address. I found the information quite interesting, my fish, a king, weighed 15.5 lbs, was a 3 year old, released on 5/10/03 from the St Joe river, Clementine net pens. Obviously, I am eager to help the DNR in any way I can, to help maintain this fantastic fishery, so I was suprised to find along with the info, a stinger fishing lure in the envelope. Not a big deal but the DNR's showing of appreciation is duly noted. Thanks. I know there are others out there, because they indicated over 1900 kings had been processed.

[2manyfish]

Thats pretty cool... I wonder how many fish from Ludington end up in St. Joe? I would like to see some stats on what the DNR has found while tracking these fish. Is it the "norm" they stray this far from home?

[EdB]

I always turn in my coded heads. There is a freezer for them at the municipal marina if the creel clerks aren't around. You can a supply of forms from a creel clerk. It is a shame how many go down the grinders every year. I have got quite a few from St Joe at Ludington and even a couple from Lake Huron.

[Rencoho]

Thanks for the heads up Ed. Wasn't aware you could turn them in on your own.

[BFG]

15.5# 3 yr. old....

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout Willis...


BFG

[woodie slayer]

i reported some walleye tags one year and they mailed me some hot n tots:fish:

[ausable_steelhead]

15.5# 3 yr. old....

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout Willis...


BFG

That's what I was thinkin', a 15.5lb 3-yr old is a very healthy fish.

[Spanky]

I would bet that there are far more of ST. Joe Kings caught in Ludington, than there are Ludington fish caught in St. Joe!
Thanks for the input. The rewards program is possible because of anglers actually taking the time to turn in heads, and quite a few tackle manufacturers donating those gifts. This has been going on for almost two decades now. It is another great example of angler/DNR cooperation.

Ah Yes the Clemintine net pens, you can thank the SW steelheaders, clemantines, and the fisheries department for the continued excellent salmon recruitment from the St Joe port.;)

[Spanky]

I almost forgot this part, an alot of anglers may not be aware of this but...............All of the guys who are talking about catching 4 yr. olds,.................there is a better chance that they are actually 3 yr. olds, and it seems to be a trend in the king salmon in the recent past. The majority of the fish( kings) that come in to spawn are actually 3 yrs. old. Its a real good reason why 30 lbers are not as abundant as they used to be!;)

[Andge]

I do not believe that I have ever caught a tagged fish. Are they visable? What should you be looking for?

[webfarmer]

We had something very similar happen to us this past season at Manistee. A lady DNR officer asked to see our fish (and everyone elses of course). As luck would have it, one of our was tagged and we didn't even know it. She took the head and my buddy is supposed to get a lure. If I recall correctly, it was a 13 pounder - one of the smaller fish we lucked into that week. Everybody was catching really nice kings and our largest was 22 1/2 pounds. What a great week! Have to see if my buddy got his lure in the mail when he gets back. Thanks.

[thousandcasts]

That's one of the reasons that Manistee and Ludington get so hot as far as king fishing goes later in the summer. A lot of southern fish will migrate to those northern waters for a last feeding spree prior to the spawn. Those shelfs and undercurrents off Ludington up to Manistee concentrate a ton of bait fish and the salmon are quite aware of it. You can find a good mix of different plants up there until the fish start migrating back down the coast to home in on the rivers where they were planted.

Good info! I once caught a wire coded lake trout out of Grand Haven and learned that it was 8 years old and was planted in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

[cliffd]

I do not believe that I have ever caught a tagged fish. Are they visable? What should you be looking for?

Look in your fishing guide for what to look for.

They cut off the adipose fin.

I caught a King in Lk Huron but I could never meet up with an open DNR office to drop it off. Had to get rid of the head when we lost power and cleaned out the freezer. I was bummed.

[EdB]

Here is a link to print out tag forms. Put your head in a ziplock, fill out this form and put this form into another zip lock and put it in with the head and freeze it until you can turn it in. Putting the form in it's own zip lock will keep it from get wet and bloody.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/coded_wire_tag_form-PR8550_35853_7.pdf

This is a link to drop off site for heads. There are plenty around the state.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/coded-wire-tag-drop-sites-July-2006_165267_7.pdf