Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags Review

I’ve been using metal cull tags forever. They have been the standard way for me to tag my tournament fish up until a few months ago. I have recently started using a new system that doesn’t harm the fish. This has led me to write this Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags Review, to let you know what I think of these non-piercing cull tags after using them for a while.

Before I actually start sharing the review info, let me state that I didn’t switch to the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags because I felt I had to. None of the tournaments I fish in require non-piercing tags (yet). And, to be honest, the way I tagged my bass with the old style cull clips didn’t harm them. I had actually figured out a way to push the clip through the bottom lip of the bass instead of puncturing the bottom of their jaw.

This method left the tiniest of holes in the bottom lip of the fish that when the clip was removed, the hole wasn’t even visible.

But, I decided that even that small hole was too much. So I made the switch.

You’re probably wondering why I chose the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags instead of any of the others that are available. And that’s a good question. So let me share why.

First, I have other Accu Cull products. They have been great to use. They are well-made. And any time I have had a question, the company owner has been extremely responsive. That in itself is enough for me to strongly consider purchasing more of their products.

Additionally, the other products that I had bought were very high quality. They worked well and were durable. Again, when I find this, I tend to go back to that company for other related products.

So, now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get on with the actual Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags Review.

Let’s Start With The Clips Themselves

First, I have spent quite a bit of time watching videos from the product creator. He has put a lot of time into making sure everyone knows how to use these clips properly. You might think that something as simple as a cull tag would not require any how-to videos. But the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags are unique.

There was a lot of thought put into these clips, to make them work properly and hold onto the fish securely, without harming the fish at all.

To get the maximum benefit of using them, and for them to work as intended, I highly recommend that everyone who buys them watch the videos on the company website. Trust me. The videos will save you a lot of headaches.

Once You Understand The How

Once you understand how to use them properly, getting them onto and off of a bass will be drop-dead simple. They’re designed to be used with one hand, so adding a clip to your fish is as effortless as it possibly can be. And clipping the fish properly will guarantee that the clip stays in place until you remove it.

No Harm, No Foul

Unlike some of the other brand non-piercing cull tags, the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags will absolutely not harm the fish because they don’t clamp to the fish or apply pressure to the fish in any way at all. Once attached, the clips are free to move around on the jaw of the fish, preventing any kind of damage from the clip rubbing or binding on the fish’s jaw or bottom lip.

And they do this while remaining attached to the fish, whether the bass is big, small or in between.

I have heard and read horror stories from anglers who have used some of the other brands of non-piercing cull tags. The stories range from clips always falling off, to injured or even dead bass due to the way those clips attach.

Beyond The Clip

Beyond the actual clip itself, the rest of this setup is very, very simple. Attached to the clip is a colored piece of latex tubing. The tubing is color-matched to the clip.

The latex tubes float very readily in the water. And because they’re extremely soft and flexible, they absolutely never tangle with each other.

This in itself is huge. My last set of cull tags was a nightmare when it came to them getting tangled. I can recall numerous times over the years when I would open the livewell and find two or three bass tied together involuntarily because the lines attached to the tags had become badly tangled together.

But since switching to the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags, I don’t even give this a second thought. In fact, every time I’ve opened the livewell while using these tags, the fish are moving around very freely in the livewell, as if they have nothing attached to them at all.

I can honestly say that the fish act much more lively since making the switch to these tags.

There Are Strings Attached

Well, there really aren’t any strings attached, but there are latex tubes. And I want to talk for a minute about those pieces of tubing. I want to make it clear what they will do and what they won’t do.

First, they will allow you to grab the tube and follow it with your hand down to the mouth of the fish. This will allow you to grab the mouth of the fish and hoist it out of the livewell.

They were not intended to be used to lift the fish out of the livewell. This doesn’t mean that it can’t be done. But let me reiterate that it shouldn’t be done. The latex tubing isn’t intended to be used this way, and doing so may eventually cause the tubing to pull free from the tag itself.

They Can Be Customized

If you prefer to use another kind of float on these tags, the latex tubing can be removed, exposing a hole in the nub that the latex tubing is attached to. That hole can be used to attach other types of floats. If you wish to use these to lift your fish from the livewell, I would highly recommend removing the latex tubes and replacing them with something a bit more rugged.

Personally, though, I will be sticking with the latex tubing because I had grown really tired of my old system constantly getting tangled up, putting my fish at risk of damage or dying.

Storing The Tags

I’m a bit of a neat freak. I like everything to be as organized as possible. It just helps me function better when things are neat and in their place.

So I needed to figure out the best way to store these tags where I could access them quickly and easily. And since my G3 HP180 boat is aluminum, it has plastic livewells. The plastic lip on the livewell is a perfect spot to store them.

It’s thin enough to accomodate the clips nicely, but thick enough to keep them in place without damaging them. When I need a clip, I just grab it and remove it from the livewell lip by tugging on it lightly. It comes right off.

All I need to do then is to open the clip and slide it onto the jaw of the fish, and then clip it shut. Done in no time at all.

I also use the Accu Cull Culling System weight recorder, which I will be reviewing in the near future, so I store my cull tags in the same order that the colors are listed on the weight recorder. Just another way that I keep everything organized 🙂

My Only Complaint

As with most products, there will almost always be one or two little things that aren’t quite perfect.

The same held true with these cull tags. But the good news is that the one problem that I found has already been addressed and fixed by the product owner.

During my first two times using these I had two of them come apart. I immediately contacted Accu Cull about it. I received an email almost immediately, letting me know that they were aware of the problem and that a fix had already been found.

Apparently the glue that had been used to hold the fastener together didn’t work quite as well as planned, resulting in some clips coming apart at the hinge. Not all of mine came apart, so the problem was apparently only affecting two of the clips.

But fast as lightning, Accu Cull dropped a package in the mail with new screws and nuts to repair the two clips that had come apart, and for the other clips that were still working properly. They were proactive in their efforts, making sure that none of the other clips would suffer from this problem, before the problem even happened.

This kind of customer service is what sets Accu Cull apart from some other companies that I have dealt with.

After installing the new fasteners in the two clips that had come apart, I fished a handful of other tournaments and experienced no further problems at all. Problem solved!

Final Notes

There are a few things that I want to be sure to mention before I wrap this review up.

1 – When attaching the clip to the fish, be sure to place the nub that holds the latex tubing facing up.

2 – Do not apply sideways pressure when trying to open or close the clip. They were not designed to be moved sideways.

3 – Watch the videos on the Accu Cull website to make sure you open and close the clips properly.

4 – Be sure to attach the clip to the fish exactly as shown in the Accu Cull videos. If you do this, you will never, ever have a clip come off of a fish.

5 – If a clip does come off, it is highly likely that it was not attached properly.

Wrapping This Up

As I’ve already mentioned, previous Accu Cull products that I have bought have been of excellent quality. And my previous experience with Accu Cull customer service has always been excellent. That holds true with my recent encounters with them also.

Aside from all of that, I really, really like the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags. I was a bit unsure when I first started using them. Not because I doubted their ability to do what they were supposed to do, but because I had to learn how to use them properly. And with that taking place during a night tournament, I was a bit nervous about it.

Despite being nervous, I figured it all out and was more than happy with them!

Once you get used to these clips, you won’t give them a second thought. They’re easy to put on and easy to take off. They stay put. They don’t get tangled. They’re easy to store and organize.

And best of all, they have no metal, so they will never corrode. And they won’t hurt the bass. Ever.

It’s a win/win for you and for the bass.

A solid 5 stars for this product. They’re innovative. They work as intended. The customer service is outstanding.

You can check out the Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags by clicking here.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Accu Cull Elite E-Con Cull Tags Review.

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And feel free to leave comments below.

Good fishing <><