Floy® dart tag (FD-67 international orange) loss of 78% was discovered among largemouth bal's held in hatchery pond~ for three months.Sepa!a!io~of the #20 tubing from its monofilament anchor accounted for 81% of the losses, while dislodgement of the anchor from fish occurred in only 19% of the losses. Since ponds were free of vegetation which could entangle the tag and contained only tagged bass and bait fish, tag loss was assumed to be the result of bass pulling tags from each others' backs. To test this theory and determine differential retention for other types of Floy® dart tags, further studies were conducted. International orange, green, and brown FD-&7 tags sustained 58%, 62%, and 63% retention, respectively, on largemouth bass held in a hatchery pond tor 3 months. Differences in retention were nonsignificant in Chi-square testing. In another pond, three international orange tag types were compared: (I) FD67 (Standard), (2) FD-67C (#20 tubing only half as long), and (3) FD-68B (reinforced attachment of tag and anchor). Percent retention was 47%,75%, and 88% for the short, standard, and reinforced tags, respectively. Chi-square tests indicated that retention was significantly lower for the short tag than for the reinforced and standard tags. Data indicated, however, that this difference was probably caused by manufacturer's quality control rather than difference in tag design. Reinforced and standard tag retention did not differ significantly. Separation of the #20 tubing from its anchor accounted for 23% to 75% of the tag losses in the above experiments.
