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Program Description: Fishtagged (FT) will provide anglers who recapture and report tagged fish on the upper Potomac River with a pre-selected digital gift certificate provided by our sponsors at a value of $25.00 to $50.00. The rewards will be offered from March 1, 2026, through December 1, 2026. Additionally, submissions for 2026 will count toward the grand prize for the most recaptured FT submissions.
Eligible Species: Smallmouth Bass, Largemouth Bass, Walleye and Muskie.
Rewards:
Most recaptures in one season: Fishing onboard the Vistalady in the Chesapeake Bay ; St. Croix Rod
Weekly recapture rewards: Hatchmatchbait.com lure card(s) ; Jake’s Bait and Tackle Gift Card(s) ; District Angling Gift Card(s) ; Amazon Digital Gift Card(s)
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Anglers reporting a FT tagged fish will receive 1 reward point
There is no limit to the number of recaptured FT tagged fish that any one angler may report during the 2026 season. All Anglers are limited to one reward per month, but may submit additional recaptures for the Grand Prize.
The angler who accumulates the most recapture reward points will receive a grand prize to be awarded at the conclusion of the 2026 fishing season.
Any individual fish recaptured more than once in the same day with the same ID by the same angler will not qualify for additional points; but will be recorded as non-qualifying recaptures.
Fishtagged staff and taggers are not eligible.
Any participating angler must report a recapture within 24 hours of catching the FT tagged fish.
Each submission will be reviewed by FT and the angler will be notified if the recapture has been confirmed, scored, and qualified.
The tag ID submitted must match the fish the FT team has previously tagged and archived in our database. Confirmation of each recapture will be sent to the angler along with the previous locations of that specific fish original tagged location or previous recaptures.
The FT tag ID consists of 1 letter and 4 digits and is one of 5 colors. Example: Yellow A1234. Some older tags may only have three digits. Example: Color 018. Algae growth on the tag is common — Gently scrape to read, while leaving the tag in place.
FT reserves the right to award an exceptional catch and/or rescind or exclude any recapture submission at any time, with or without reason, and determine rewards recipient in the event of a tie, weekly or otherwise.
FT will announce winners and post the results on the FT website and/or FT social media, which any winner may opt out of.
Anglers will have the option of redacting their name from public knowledge and still be eligible for a reward.
In the event of a grand prize tie FT would judge the quality of the photo and accuracy of the measurement when compared to the length of the fish when it was originally tagged.
If you capture a FT tagged fish and choose not to submit the tag you may always look it up by using our Search a Tag feature. We have tracked fish which have migrated over 30 miles and many who have stayed within 100 yards of the initial tagging location over a 5 year period.
The FT team reserves the right to review, accept or reject any submission at any time.
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We recognize the importance of protecting angler privacy while also collecting accurate recapture location data to better understand the aquatic environment and migratory patterns of tagged fish within the Potomac’s unique ecosystem. To balance these priorities, anglers may choose to submit either a general location or a specific latitude and longitude for each recapture.
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The following fields are required to qualify for reward(s):
Species
Date
Time
Photo of your catch with the tag visible and its entire length
Length of fish (by measurement or estimate). MDDNR recommended measuring can be found here
Tag Color
Location of Recapture by latitude and longitude (or town name)
Comments
Your Name (not to be published)
Your email Address (not to be published)
Your Phone number (not to be published)
FT Recapture Submissions may be provided by:
