THE BASS COLLEGE

10/29/2009 – Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and the University of Florida need assistance with a statewide largemouth bass research study. This year-long project is an interactive way for the public to help biologists obtain critical information necessary to manage the largemouth bass fishery for quality and trophy-sized fish.

From this study, biologists hope to learn how frequently bass are caught and harvested. They also hope to learn more about the size range of fish caught.

Beginning this month, biologists are tagging largemouth bass with small, yellow tags along the back of the fish just below the dorsal fin. These tags carry a printed telephone number, e-mail address, tag number and reward value. Anglers should carefully examine all bass caught in Florida lakes for reward tags, as biologists will tag fish in numerous lakes throughout the state.

Biologists encourage anglers to remove these tags by cutting them as close to the fish as possible and then treat the fish as they would normally. Once anglers remove a tag, they should immediately report it to the FWC Angler Tag Return Hotline at 800-367-4461 or e-mail TagReturn [at] MyFWC [dot] com.

Anglers participating in the study will receive a reward for each largemouth bass tag they return to the FWC. When reporting the tag, anglers should provide the following information:

■the species of fish,

■tag number, fish length,

■date and time of capture,

■name of the lake where the fish was caught, and

■whether the angler kept or released the fish.

Anglers should mail the tags to:

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Attn: LMB Tagging Study

601 W. Woodward Ave.

Eustis, FL 32726

Are they still running that program today? if so what lakes are reported to have the tagged fish?