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For up-to-date information on North Carolina licenses, regulations and other wildlife resources, please visit the agency’s website NCWildlife.org.
RALEIGH, N.C. (May 15, 2020) – The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is asking anglers fishing on Lake Norman to release any blue-tagged hybrid striped bass they catch.
Tagged fish are easily identifiable with the blue tag in the dorsal area (the top of the fish near the spines) and a thin antenna protruding from the side of the body. They are part of a study of hybrid striped bass, also known as Bodie bass, that agency biologists recently began to track the fish’s movements throughout the reservoir, particularly in the late summer months when water temperatures are high and dissolved oxygen levels in certain areas of the reservoir are low.
Anglers should release these fish immediately. Since 2016, the Commission has been studying harvest of hybrid striped bass at Lake Norman and fish in that study were implanted with an orange tag. Anglers collecting fish with orange tags are still advised to remove that tag and call the phone number on the tag.
For more information about Bodie bass/hybrid striped bass, visit the Commission’s hybrid striped bass page. For more information about fishing in North Carolina, visit the fishing page.
Due to the COVID-19 virus, the sales counter at the Wildlife Commission’s headquarters in Raleigh is closed. We encourage the public to visit our website, www.ncwildlife.org, to purchase fishing, trapping and hunting licenses and to renew a vessel registration. The Commission’s License, Vessel Registration Centers are open from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., Monday-Friday.
For the most up-to-date information on agency-related closures, cancellations and postponements visit ncwildlife.org/covid19.