Report Jaw Tags

Many projects have been conducted using jaw tags. You might catch a fish bearing an external tag with the letters DNR, MDNR, MI DNR or MICH DNR (or other combinations). If you catch a fish with a jaw tag, please report the following information: species, length, weight (if known), tag location (where tag was attached), identification number (the larger of the two sets of numbers), tag return address (for example MICH DNR MM-1), capture date, and capture location by using the tag return form found at: http://www.michigandnr.com/taggedfish/. In the notes box of the form, please list time of capture and sex of fish (if known).

Upon receiving your information, a letter stating when and where the fish was tagged will be sent to you via US mail.

If you catch a tagged fish during catch and release season, or if you choose not to keep the fish, please remove the jaw tag for proper reporting. Jaw tags can be most easily removed from a fish with needle-nose pliers. When removing a tag from a fish that you plan to release, please be careful to avoid breaking the jaw bone.

Additional Information about Jaw Tags:

• Large Lakes Program
  One to two lakes, which are 1000 acres or larger, are scheduled to be surveyed every year. The fish tagged will be walleye, northern pike, musky and smallmouth bass. This study is designed to better determine population abundance, growth & survival, and harvest & fishing pressure.
• Lake Huron / Erie Tagging Project
  These projects are used to determine movement, set harvest limits and determine mortality rates. Walleye tagging programs are ongoing in both Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Lake Huron tagging started in 1981. Lake Erie tagging started in 1978.
• Green Bay Tagging Project
  Jaw tagging is used to assess movement patterns and annual rates of exploitation and survival of walleye in Michigan waters of Green Bay. Tagging started in 1988 and is ongoing.
• Beaver Island Archipelago Tagging Project
  Central Michigan University (CMU) is conducting a smallmouth bass study in and around Beaver Island. The study is designed to determine population estimates and movement patterns. Tagged smallmouth bass may have one or more of the following: jaw, anchor, or sonic tags.
• Corey Lake and Pleasant Lake
  The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will be conducting a fish survey on Corey and Pleasant Lakes during the spring and summer of 2008. The study is being conducted to collect information on indices of abundance and estimates of annual harvest and fishing effort for largemouth bass. A second objective of the study is to collect sufficient growth and mortality statistics to be able to evaluate effects of fishing on largemouth bass. Special fishing regulations have been established on these lakes to improve these valuable fisheries.