Last year the club began a trout tagging project in conjunction with Inland Fisheries Ireland and of course with the help of club anglers who gave up their time to help with the catching of fish.
The purpose of this was to tag trout in our fishery with unique numbered tags so that going forward if one of our members catch one of these trout, we can record their growth rate and location. Each tagged trout has their own unique number and a record of their weight, length, scale samples, location of where they were caught, and the anglers name was kept.
We need your help.
- If, and when you catch one of these trout, please photograph it with your phone and make sure to photograph the tag number also. If you have a measuring tape include this in the photo to record the length. If you don’t have a tape with you put the trout along the base of your fly rod and take the photo this will give us a rough reference guide.
- Record the location of where you caught the fish, this is important because we can then tell where and how far the fish has travelled from the original catch site.
- Take a scale sample with your fingernail from just below the tag and place them in a dry envelope and write the tag number on it and date it.
- If possible, record the weight but if you have no scales return the fish to the water immediately, we want the process to be as quick as possible to ensure the fish is safely returned.
- Members can then Email this information to andrewdempsey@live.com or photos can also be sent via WhatsApp to 0861608880. Please include your name in the WhatsApp message. If you have scale samples, I will arrange to meet you, or you can give them to any committee member.
- (COMPETITIONS) We would like the tagged trout to be returned to the river BUT if you happen to catch one of them and feel it may win or be placed in the competition you may bring the fish. This decision is completely the anglers one and we will 100% respect your choice.
We hope to continue with this project this year and we will be tagging more fish. 49 trout were tagged last year. We may not see these fish this year but if you do, you now know the information we require. We hope this will help us gather data on the lifecycle of trout in our fishery and beyond. A special thanks to Karen Robert and Maureen from IFI.
