Tagging The Fish for the Ice Fishing Derby

The Rotary Clubs Second Annual Ice Fishing derby will be held on Saturday at Lake DeSmet. Several prizes will be awarded, $1,000 for longest fish in 4 categories (Trout, Kokanee Salmon, Walleye, Perch) with second and third prizes in each category as well.

On Thursday, 200 tagged fish were released into the lake. Each tag is worth $50 when redeemed at the derby headquarters.

How are the fish tagged and released? The fish, are all rainbow trout and they were purchased by the Rotary Club from the Clark Trout Farms in Spearfish, SD. Although the fish were purchased from a private hatchery, the Wyoming Game and Fish biologists were on hand to tag the fish. Mike Clark, the owner, delivered the fish, and helped with the tagging operation.

In spite of the cold weather, with the thermometer standing at just a little above zero, the fish were netted out the tanks on the Clark Trout Farm truck, and quickly dumped into water-filled plastic tubs.

The Game and Fish biologists grabbed each fish out of the tub by hand, and using a small tagging device, inserted the tag in the dorsal tissue below the dorsal fin.

This tagging process does not injure the fish according to fisheries biologist Gordon Edwards. He was joined by Andrew Nikirk, another fisheries biologist, and Reed Moore, the AIS (Aquatic Invasive Species) Specialist. The fish were then promptly dumped into water-filled coolers and sledded out to the holes on the lake behind four-wheelers.

Megan Powers and Rob Forister of the Rotary Club were on hand at the tagging operation.

She added that the Clark had held back on the feed for a time so the fish would be hungry by Saturday, so that more of the tagged fish might be caught. “We had planned to release the fish on Tuesday, but due to the negative temperatures, it was moved to today.”

Rob Forister, derby event manager said, “I’m in charge of the actual event, the fishing derby the day of, and the preparation, there are other people in charge of the whole event, Megan Powers, is in charge of the fish derby as a whole, and we have marketing and fund raising and we have a bunch of different people on the team.”

One of Forister’s jobs on Thursday was cutting holes in the ice and helping to transport the fish from the tagging area, and tuning them loose into the water.

On derby day Forister will oversee all the fish turned in for prizes, and is in charge of measuring and weighing the fish. The derby is an all- day event, beginning at sunrise and ending with the prizes being awarded around 6 in the evening. “It is a great event for Sheridan and Johnson Counties.” Forister added.

Powers said that the proceeds from the Derby will benefit the Sheridan Rotary Foundation and from there will go to several non-profits and several service projects in Sheridan. Last year the weather was snowing and windy, “There was a blizzard,” Powers said, laughing. But there were still over 300 people who came to fish. Powers said that since the weather will be better they are looking forward to a good derby this year.