I learned this from the fish checker on the Kalama also and was very surprised. She also told me that they brand summer and winter fish differently. The winter fish are branded with the "It" on the right side and the summer fish have an "S" on the left side. Also, winter fish get the white tag and summer fish get a yellow tag. Next time I see her, I hope to remember to ask her about a blue tag I found last year on an unmarked fish. I was about to bonk it, but threw it back because it wasn't clipped.

By the way, she came by yesterday and said they had recycled 1,400 winter fish so far this season and were still getting good numbers of fresh, bright fish up at the hatchery.