Dr. Ken Neill breaks another record

Virginia anglers know that wreck fishing for tautog can be pretty rewarding in the spring.  One angler who is very familiar with the joys of tautog fishing is Virginia Game Fish Tagging Program volunteer tagger, Dr. Ken Neill. Since joining the program at its inception in 1995, Dr. Neill has tagged more than 3,700 fishes for the program. During this time, he’s contributed a tremendous amount of data and set a few program records. The most recent record being for the longest days at large (the length of time between when a fish is first tagged and released, and when it is last caught).

On March 23, 2013, Neill tagged a 12.5-inch tautog at the Morgan Wreck. This fish was initially recaptured by another VGFTP volunteer tagger, Mr. Wally Veal, at the Morgan Wreck on January 22, 2017, and measured 16 inches at the time. However, it was the most recent recapture that made the fish a record breaker. The tautog was last recaptured on March 26, 2023, by Mr. Andrew Homer at Triangle Wreck (part of the same complex as Morgan Wreck) and measured 22 inches long. This recapture marked a new record of 3,655 days at large (more than 10 years!) for a VGFTP-tagged fish.

Surprisingly, this was not the first time that a fish tagged by Neill has been a record holder.  It was eleven years ago today when the VGFTP first shared a record-breaking tautog recapture by Dr. Ken Neill. Neill first tagged that 11.5-inch tautog on April 10, 2004 off Cape Henry, and that fish was at large for 2,826 days, only 94 days short of 8 years. Neill’s tautog set a new record at the time for days at large which was broken in 2019 when a cobia (originally tagged by Sheldon Arey at Latimer Shoal in 2009) was recaptured and released at the York Spit 3,623 days later.

VGFTP Principal Investigator Susanna Musick of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) says, “Thanks to Dr. Neill and Mr. Homer, we have another outstanding recapture record! These long-term recaptures help highlight site-fidelity and show how much these fish can grow. We can see the significance of this type of habitat for structure-oriented species like tautog. Also, multiple recaptures of the same fish show the importance of good catch and release handling and tag retention. We’re lucky to have devoted volunteer taggers like Dr. Neill in our program and are grateful to the anglers who report these tagged fishes.”

The VGFTP is a cooperative fisheries research program in partnership with recreational anglers, the Marine Advisory Program at VIMS and the Saltwater Tournament at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC).  The program’s funding is from state saltwater license funds and VIMS. To learn more visit: www.vims.edu/vgftp/ or www.facebook.com/vagamefishtagging/ .