interesting aging data

[DTro]

Last year I hosted a Catfish Contest on P2 of the Mississippi.  During this contest the MNDNR was present and tagging fish that were being brought in for registration.  In addition to tagging, a number of fish were also spined for aging purposes.  What they do is take out a spine near the pectoral fin (this does not have any negative effect on the future life of the fish) and then they take the spine and are able to determine age of the fish by slicing the spine and counting the rings like you would on a tree.

 

Here are some interesting results from those fish last year.  CCF=Channel  FCF=Flathead

CCF, 30.6”, 13.55 lbs, 14 years old

CCF, 26.1”, 8.15 lbs, 11 years old

CCF, 27.4”, 11.04 lbs, 11 years old

CCF, 28.8”, 10.18 lbs, 12 years old

FCF, 43.1”, 43.12 lbs, 26 years old

FCF, 42.8”, 37.63 lbs, unable to age

CCF, 25.7”, 7.2 lbs, 13 years old

CCF, 31.1”, 12.72 lbs, 11 years old

CCF, 27.2”, 8.48 lbs, 11 years old

FCF, 26.3”, no weight, 11 years old

FCF, 31.9”, 16.6 lbs, 14 years old

FCF, 32.7”, 15.85 lbs, 25 years old

FCF, 41.3”, 35.65 lbs, 23 years old

FCF, 33.9”, 19.2 lbs, 29 years old

FCF, 28.5”, no further data collected

FCF, 36.1”, no further data collected

FCF, 30.8”, no further data collected

FCF, 36.4”, no further data collected

FCF, 22”, no further data collected

FCF, 29.9”, no further data collected

FCF, 40”, no further data collected

FCF, 32.1”, no further data collected

FCF, 25”, no further data collected

FCF, 23.4”, no further data collected

FCF, 24.4”, no further data collected

FCF, 26”, no further data collected

FCF, 24.8”, no weight, 9 years old

CCF, 28.7”, no further data collected

FCF, 29”, no further data collected

In addition to that Joel has also been tagging hundreds of other cats out on P2.  Anglers have been catching them and patterns have been developing.  It’s pretty darn cool to see how you have fish that are total home range fish (some have been recaught 3 or 4 times in the same spot) and others that are travelers and are nowhere near the original tagging location.

 

None of the fish that were tagged and released at the contest registration location have been re-caught yet, but it will be interesting to see where they end up and if it will be near where the contestants caught them, or closer to where they were tagged or somewhere totally different