[dropcap]W[/dropcap]henever we get a report of the recapture of a tagged fish, the BTT team tends to get a bit giddy. It’s kind of like when your friend returns from a blind date. Who? Where? When? Give us the dirt! In our case, the answers to these questions not only fulfill our thirst for the fishy details, but they provide important scientific data that will help us better understand what makes our beloved species tick.
Recently, we received notification from angler Nick Way about his recapture of a tagged permit in the Atlantic near Lake Worth, FL. Nick reported that his fish, caught on April 30th, 2014, measured 28.25 inches to the fork and weighed in at 17.5 lbs. As always, everyone’s ears perked right up. Ok, so where was it originally tagged? Who tagged it? How much has it grown?
We immediately checked the tag number in our database. As it turns out, this particular permit was originally caught, tagged, and released in Biscayne Bay by Captain Carl Ball on March 26th, 2012. At the time, the fish measured 26 inches to the fork and weighed 15 lbs. For everyone keeping score, the fish grew 2.25 inches and gained 2.5 lbs in 2 years, 1 month, and 4 days, and traveled roughly 65 miles north of where it was originally captured. Truly exciting stuff!
Tagged permit.
To date, Carl has tagged well over 100 permit for BTT—one of our most prolific permit taggers— and that day he was about to add another to the list. He recalled the day having low humidity, crystal clear blue skies, and seemingly endless visibility on the flats. One of those days that we dream about. Carl and his angler John, who fish together about 6 times per year, were fishing with a live crab on a spinning rod when they caught and tagged this permit. When asked about his participation in Project Permit, Capt. Carl replied, “Hopefully we will all have a much better understanding of these species and be able to protect them for the future. I am glad I am in a position to be able to make a contribution by tagging so many fish. It’s great to be a part of this program.”
