Cash reward awaits anglers who return tags from Lake Thurmond stripers

Tagged fish are part of study of the lake’s striper population

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has teamed up with its counterpart in Georgia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a study of the striped bass in Lake Thurmond, and the three organizations are requesting the help of anglers, who will receive a cash reward.

The goal of the study is to determine angler catch rates, how stripers use the Thurmond tailrace, and how they use the newly oxygenated area below Modoc. The agencies implanted transmitters and tags into certain striped bass to help gather this information.

While the transmitters are not visible to anglers, the tags are. Anglers catching a tagged striper who plan to release it are encouraged to clip off the tag off and report it to the SCDNR using the Striped Bass Tagging Study form, which can be downloaded at www.dnr.sc.gov/news/yr2013/april11/april11_striper.html. SCDNR’s Jason Bettinger cautions anglers not to rip the tag from the fish.

SCDNR is also asking anglers who do harvest the tagged fish to return the transmitters – which are easily identified once a fish is cleaned – using the same form.

The most important data to record when catching one of these fish is the date caught, location caught, the tag number, and the fish’s total length. Questions about the program can be directed to Bettinger at 803-353-8232 or bettingerj@dnr.sc.gov.