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The Game and Fish Department has been tagging salmon stocked in Lake Sakakawea for a number of years. This page is intended to explain to anglers the importance of participating in returning tags from certain salmon they catch. The Department has clipped the adipose fin from some of the salmon they stock to identify those fish that carry a micro wire tag (see the small bit in the circle on the nose of the fish in the image below). PLEASE watch for missing adipose fin on the fish you catch. Save the whole head and turn it in at bait shops in Pick City or Riverdale. Or, drop them at the Game and Fish Department office in Bismarck.

This is a sample micro wire tag

They are placed in the salmon's snout

What for salmon WITHOUT adipose fin

These are the salmon that are tagged

In case your interested in data collected by the Department, the table below shows the results of examining the coded wire tags taken from salmon that were sport caught and those that were handled during the annual spawning operation. They are organized by the size of smolts when stocked and where they were placed in Lake Sakakawea.

This data is very important for the Department in determining the most successful stocking criteria. The number and size of smolts at stocking time is significant to the number and condition of salmon caught by anglers.

Size/Location Stocked	51 fish/pound Cage-cultured - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	16
Age	3+
Length range (inches)	25.6 - 31.5
Average length (inches)	29
Weight range (pounds)	8.0 - 12.7
Average weight (pounds)	10.1
Sex	Male = 1 Female = 13 Unknown = 2
Location caught	Government Bay - 3 Face of Dam - 3 Deadmans - 2 Spillway Apron- 2 Pochant Bay - 2 Beulah Bay- 1
Size/Location Stocked	28 fish/pound Cage-cultured - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	36
Age	3+
Length range (inches)	22.6 - 31.5
Average length (inches)	28.5
Weight range (pounds)	5.5 - 12.8
Average weight (pounds)	10.1
Sex	Male = 3 Female = 27 Unknown = 6
Location caught	Deadmans = 7 Pochant Bay = 6 Government Bay = 5 Face of Dam = 4 Spillway Apron = 2 Mallard Island = 1 Intake = 1
Size/Location Stocked	41 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	15
Age	3+
Length range (inches)	19.7 - 33.5
Average length (inches)	28.1
Weight range (pounds)	7.0 - 14.5
Average weight (pounds)	9.9
Sex	Male = 4 Female = 10 Unknown = 1
Location caught	Government Bay - 8 Face of Dam - 4 Deadmans - 1 Pochant Bay - 1
Size/Location Stocked	96 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	8
Age	2+
Length range (inches)	27.6 - 29.5
Average length (inches)	28.5
Weight range (pounds)	8.0 - 12.1
Average weight (pounds)	9.9
Sex	Male = 4 Female = 3 Unknown = 1
Location caught	Government Bay - 4 Face of Dam - 1 Deadmans - 1
Size/Location Stocked	65 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	15
Age	2+
Length range (inches)	24.6 - 31.5
Average length (inches)	27.7
Weight range (pounds)	7.0 - 12.9
Average weight (pounds)	9.9
Sex	Male = 5 Female = 7 Unknown = 3
Location caught	Deadmans - 6 Face of Dam - 4 Government Bay - 1 Rodeo Bay - 1 Wolf Creek - 1
Size/Location Stocked	60 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	9
Age	1+
Length range (inches)	13.8 - 21.7
Average length (inches)	19.4
Weight range (pounds)	3.0 - 6.0
Average weight (pounds)	4.3
Sex	Male = 7 Unknown = 2
Location caught	Face of Dam - 4 Intake - 2 Government Bay - 2 Sakakawea Bay - 1
Size/Location Stocked	90 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
Number of tags returned	5
Age	1+
Length range (inches)	13.8 - 19.7
Average length (inches)	17.7
Weight range (pounds)	2.2 - 3.7
Average weight (pounds)	3
Sex	Male = 2 Unknown = 3
Location caught	Deadmans - 2 Missouri River - 1

Spawning Returns

Size/Location Stocked	51 fish/pound Cage-cultured - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	20	3
Age	3+	3+
Length range (inches)	26.6 - 33.5	28.5 - 29.5
Average length (inches)	30.7	29.2
Weight range (pounds)	6.7 - 12.5	5.1 - 9.9
Average weight (pounds)	10	8.3
Sex	Male = 2 Female = 18	Female = 3
Location Caught		Sakakawea Bay - 2
Size/Location Stocked	28 fish/pound Cage-cultured - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	42	3
Age	3+	3+
Length range (inches)	28.5 - 33.5	29.5 - 30.5
Average length (inches)	30.5	29.8
Weight range (pounds)	7.2 - 14.5	8.9 - 10.6
Average weight (pounds)	10	10
Sex	Male = 3 Female = 39	Female = 3
Location Caught		Sakakawea Bay - 3
Size/Location Stocked	41 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	20	2
Age	3+	3+
Length range (inches)	27.6 - 32.5	30.5 - 32.5
Average length (inches)	30.4	31.5
Weight range (pounds)	7.7 - 13.2	9.3 - 12.2
Average weight (pounds)	10.1	10.7
Sex	Male = 0 Female = 20	Female = 2
Location Caught		Rodeo Bay - 2
Size/Location Stocked	96 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	6	1
Age	2+	2+
Length range (inches)	27.6 - 30.5	28.5
Average length (inches)	29.2
Weight range (pounds)	7.8 - 9.5	8.5
Average weight (pounds)	8.6
Sex	Male = 2 Female = 4	Male = 1
Location Caught		Sakakawea Bay - 1
Size/Location Stocked	65 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	41	6
Age	2+	2+
Length range (inches)	26.6 - 31.5	26.6 - 29.5
Average length (inches)	28.7	28.5
Weight range (pounds)	6.5 - 10.4	7.5 - 10.6
Average weight (pounds)	8.3	9.1
Sex	Male = 17 Female = 24	Male = 3 Female = 3
Location Caught		Sakakawea Bay = 5
Size/Location Stocked	60 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	17	6
Age	1+	1+
Length range (inches)	19.7 - 24.6	18.7 - 23.6
Average length (inches)	21.5	21
Weight range (pounds)	2.6 - 5.1	2.5 - 4.3
Average weight (pounds)	3.4	3.5
Sex	Male = 17
Location Caught		Sakakawea Bay = 6
Size/Location Stocked	90 fish/pound Direct - Rodeo Bay
	Ladder Returns	Electrofishing Returns
Number of tags returned	10	0
Age	1+
Length range (inches)	19.7 - 22.6
Average length (inches)	21.2
Weight range (pounds)	2.7 - 4.1
Average weight (pounds)	3.2
Sex	Male = 10