I always punch the fish I keep, but I don't send in my card at the end of the season. Punch card data is used to monitor mostly day to day catches by game wardens. Depending on the river, seasonal catches are determined by creel counts and extrapilated to estimate total catch and return of a given stock of fish. Creel counts are more accurate and relied on more than punch card data because they are taken daily by a certified fish counter and because punch cards can be fudged. Both counting methods are used against each other to build the whole picture and depending on the river may have more weight placed on them.

The reason I don't send in my punch card, #1 they would have a hard time reading it, and #2 I don't want them to know how many fish I've taken out of a particular river. I just assume keep the sport fishery count deflated so not to give more fish away to the indians. If the previouse post about the 5 fish rule on unreturned cards is true, I assure you I'll send in my card if it had less than 5 fish. Luckly, I've been able to mark over 5 hatchery fish each season.