Anglers out this weekend may find a pink-tagged fish   photo courtesy Rod Hsu

Prince George, BC – Hanging up a ‘Gone Fishing’ sign this summer, could net anglers a larger reward than just enjoyment from the pastime, itself.

Coinciding with its 10th anniversary, the Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC has launched a province-wide research project that could leave you $100 richer.

FFSBC Sport Fishing Development Biologist, Stacy Webb, says approximately 300 fish with bright pink tags have, or are being, released into 40 lakes around the province.  The tag says ‘Reward’ and lists the society’s toll-free number on it.

"It’s up to them if they want to keep the fish or not, or if they just want to remove the tag and release the fish back into the lake, but they need to physically have the tag to claim their reward," says Webb.  Anglers will be asked to provide a few basic details, including the date they caught the fish, where they were fishing, and approximately how long they’d been fishing before reeling in ‘their prize’.  Once a tag is sent in, the cheque is in the mail.

Webb says in addition to raising awareness about the society, the program will help with stock assessment for a number of lakes involved and is piggy-backing on a larger study underway in conjunction with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation.

Just which lakes contain the tagged fish remains a surprise, so as not to alter anglers’ behaviour this summer, but Webb says they’re in every region of the province.  "So far, we’ve had tagged fish returned to us from the Okanagan, the Lower Mainland, and Vancouver Island, so they are being turned in," says the biologist.  "They hadn’t heard about the program yet, but were certainly happy once they found out they’d be receiving a $100 cheque."