In July and August, South Florida anglers came together in an effort to collect genetic information on local bonefish. The two-month long Keys Fin Clip Challenge gave participants an opportunity to win fantastic prizes from sponsors Nautilus Reels, Cortland Line, Costa Del Mar and Carbon Marine and was an effort to promote local science. A bonefish fin clip is an easy and harmless way to sample a bonefish’s genetic make-up and determine which species of bonefish was caught and how interrelated populations are. Over a long term and geographically wide-ranging area we can ask: where do our bonefish come from? Bonefish fin clips are also being collected in the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, Bahamas, USVI and Hawaii. This type of information helps us inform the conservation process.
Over two months, a number of participants collected 164 fin clips from South Florida. Clippers came from many professional backgrounds, ages and represented male and female anglers. In third place and taking home a Carbon Marine Line Lair is Julian Robertson of Islamorada, FL. Julian is a long time angler of the Keys and generous supporter of BTT. Second place is awarded to Capt. Carl Ball of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Carl is a BTT Conservation Captain and supports many aspects of our research. He will be getting a new pair of Costa Sunglasses and a soft-sided BTT cooler.
Our top fin clipper is Rob Preihs of Islamorada, FL and Culpepper, VA. Rob has been instrumental in BTT’s search for juvenile bonefish and has assisted in building our bonefish broodstock for BTT’s Restoration Research Facility. Rob’s favorite fishing is slam fishing and we greatly appreciate him taking time to fin clip. Rob will be receiving a Nautilus NV G8/9 reel with Jorge Martinez engraving and Cortland line.
It was a well-deserved win for all of our top contenders, and we are grateful to our sponsors.
Thank you to all of our fin clipping participants!
Our bonefish genetics research will be coming to a close soon. If you are interested in obtaining a fin clip kit, please email brooke@bonefishtarpontrust.org or scott@bonefishtarpontrust.org.
