how many recovered Billfish Tags?

[coyote]

just wondering how many have recovered/reported tagged billfish you've caught?

also, have any billfish YOU tagged been reported/recovered by anyone?

thanks.

[Reel Fool]

I have pulled several out of whites, never seen one in a blue.

& I have tagged few fish. The tags cost $ & i am too cheap to buy them.

[FrankyPettolina]

Off the top of my head.

White Marlin I tagged in OC 7/4/94, showed up in Venezuela 12/95

Caught 2 tagged blue marlin in Venezuela that were tagged just months prior in Venezuela.

Caught lots of sails in the keys that had remnants of tags (number part peeled off).

Have caught 3 tagged makos in OC. 2 were tagged by Mark Sampson 2 years prior to me catching them, one was tagged by a Spanish commercial fishing vessel, no other info given.

Numerous tagged BFT's most were tagged as pups in NJ or NE, and were caught as 45 pounders by me.

As a side note on the billfish. I don't tag many, and I don't use circle hooks (yet). Both of the blue marlins in Venezuela were quite happy and healthy and feeding in the same place they were released. Probably on J hooks, as circles were not popular yet in the mid 90's.

I truly believe recreational mortality rates are blown way out of proportion.

[Bob_Marlin]

[Q]Reel Fool originally wrote:
I have pulled several out of whites, never seen one in a blue.

& I have tagged few fish. The tags cost $ & i am too cheap to buy them.
[/Q]


You can get them for free from the NMFS and the billfish foundation. Call the nmfs or stop by a billfish foundation booth at any big tournament and they will be happy to give them to you. They may even give you a tag stick (they gave me one)....

[coyote]

appreciate the replies.

I've tagged a few and was wondering how dismal the chances of recovery are. realistically, it has to be a small chance. I think I tagged 7 over a couple years.

[Reel Fool]

[Q]Bob_Marlin originally wrote:

You can get them for free from the NMFS and the billfish foundation. Call the nmfs or stop by a billfish foundation booth at any big tournament and they will be happy to give them to you. They may even give you a tag stick (they gave me one)....
[/Q]

thanx. last time I tried to get tags from TBF, they wanted $$. that put an end to that.

[chaos54]

I Gautemala the Captian Hook has tagged over 13,000 billfish over the course of the last nine years and only 5 have been recoverred.

[chaos54]

I Gautemala the Captian Hook has tagged over 13,000 billfish over the course of the last nine years and only 5 have been recoverred.

[FrankyPettolina]

Recovered tags are an interesting thing. Where did you get those stats on Hamlin?

I know of at least 300 of those 13,000 releases that were not tagged (I have a client that fishes with him, and none of the fish caught during his trips were tagged, so he says)

The question about returns in a place like Guatemala, this is a mostly resident sail population, and I doubt that locals will mail returns to the US, or even know what/where to mail to.

I find it difficult to believe that I tag so few in comparison and get returns, where Hamlin could tag so many, using circle hooks and get only 5. Data seems to be skewed, IMO.

Another interesting tag return in OC several years ago was when Capt. Scott Walker tagged a white on the Natural. Following year the white was caught on the Liquidator with Capt. Mark Hill. Interesting thing.... Mark and Scott are close friends, Natural was sold and became the Liquidator. Same fish, same boat, near the same location a year later.