If you’re doing some fishing at Tuttle Creek or Milford reservoirs and you catch a blue catfish, channel cat, walleye or saugeye with a purple tag near the dorsal fin, you’re asked to give those fish up, regardless of how big they are.
It’s not that the fish are unsafe to eat. It’s that they are part of an important study through the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
The state agency is working with Kansas State University on a long-term telemetry study to get more information on movement patterns and space use. The goal is to learn more about movement within reservoirs, as well as movement through reservoir dams.
In case the purple tag doesn’t remind you to release the fish by itself, each tag — which has an acoustic transmitter — will be labeled with “KSU research — please release” on one side and a tag ID number with contact information on the other. There will be underwater receivers put into the reservoirs as part of this study. The receivers will be placed on mooring lines marked by yellow or orange bullet floats as well as white stickers labeled “fish research equipment — do not disturb.”
Residents who catch fish with purple tags should email catch and release date, as well as location, to kgido@ksu.edu. Residents who catch blue catfish with orange or yellow tags, signaling involvement in previous studies, need to call the Wildlife and Parks Emporia office at 620-342-0658 to report that activity.
