What is this in the back of a silver?

[colonel00]

I almost forgot to post up this question and wasn't sure where so hopefully it fits here. Way back in August we were up fishing on the Parks Hwy near Troublesome Creek. I caught this silver and it had this cord run through its back behind the dorsal fin. Is this some sort of survey tag? It was just the cord and there weren't any identifying marks. Thanks for any insight.

 

[kasilofchrisn]

Caught this guy a few years ago on the peninsula. You can see the cable antenna sticking out of this fish.

 

[FishGod]

I almost forgot to post up this question and wasn't sure where so hopefully it fits here. Way back in August we were up fishing on the Parks Hwy near Troublesome Creek. I caught this silver and it had this cord run through its back behind the dorsal fin. Is this some sort of survey tag? It was just the cord and there weren't any identifying marks. Thanks for any insight.

For some reason I can't see you picture, but that would be a spaghetti tag most likely for a mark and recapture study with the fish wheels.

 

[colonel00]

For some reason I can't see you picture, but that would be a spaghetti tag most likely for a mark and recapture study with the fish wheels.

Hmm, the photos are on photobucket so not sure why they aren't showing. Doing a quick search on "spaghetti tag" and that pretty much is what it was. Amazing how easy it is to find information when you have the right term to search for Is there any reporting that should be done on this? I know for waterfowl you can report band numbers but never dealt with this on a fish. Thanks for the info though.

 

[bairdi]

Give the ADF&G office in Palmer a call. They should be up to date on what went on salmon tagging wise on the Susitna this past summer. If it wasn't a state project, they will likely know who did put those tags out.

 

[ysr_racer]

I see the pictures just fine.

 

[Retired Jim]

Yes more than likely it was from the fish wheels located on the Big Su below the Yentna River. If you wrote down the number on the tag or have the tag let the Palmer office know and they can give you the info, if you want it, on when the fish was tagged. Caught one a couple of years ago on the Kashwitna at the mouth, got the number, called it in and found out that it had been tagged three weeks past. Found another spaghetti tag at the mouth of Montana creek laying in the sand, not attached to a fish. Took it in to the office and found out the number dated back to the Su Hydro research days back in the '80's.

 

[Frostbitten]

10 or so years ago we used to get a fair number (3-4 per year) of pike out of Fire Lake with tags. I can't say I've seen any with tags since probably 2003.

 

[ClearCreek]

For some reason I can't see you picture, but that would be a spaghetti tag most likely for a mark and recapture study with the fish wheels.

The "tag" in the photo is not like any spaghetti I have ever seen (or used, for that matter). The ones I have seen are a single piece of material with an anchor on one end with little prongs that is injected into the fishes back. The "tag" pictured is a piece of material that has been inserted through the fishes back and then the pieces sticking out on each side have been tied together. This forms a loop that could easily get hung up on objects in the water and fish would either be stuck there or tear out the "tag" trying to escape.

ClearCreek

 

[ak_cowboy]

The fish in the picture has a spaghetti tag. You described a dart tag, which the state is using on the Big Su. I don't know who is doing spaghetti tags anymore

sent from my igloo

 

[ClearCreek]

The fish in the picture has a spaghetti tag. You described a dart tag, which the state is using on the Big Su. I don't know who is doing spaghetti tags anymore

sent from my igloo

Yes, ak cowboy, you are correct, the tags we used would be more correctly called a dart tag. We just always referred to them as spaghetti tags. We never did you the type of tag shown in the photos because of the possibility of a fish getting it caught on something and injuring the fish. Some folks refer to these types of tags as Floy tags, the company that makes them.

ClearCreek

 

[colonel00]

Thanks for all of the replies. Unfortunately, since the tag was new to me and I didn't see any noticeable markings right away I did not record any numbers. It definitely would have been interesting to find out more info about its travels.