How to Make a Target Stick for Fish Training

Target sticks are very useful for training fish. They can be used to guide the fish through various obstacles and introduce them to new tricks quickly and easily. Target sticks can be made pretty quickly, with just a few materials. You can choose from two different types of target sticks to make based on the size of your fish. Target stick # 2 (with the green tip) is the one I use most frequently for my fish.

After you make one of these target sticks for your fish, you can find the step-by-step tutorial for teaching them to touch and follow the target on the Fish Target Training page.

How to Make a Target Stick for Fish (Video Tutorial)

Materials Needed For This Project

Target Stick # 1

  • A thin dowel
  • Small styrofoam ball
  • Toothpick
  • Hot glue gun and hot glue

Target Stick # 2

  • A thin dowel
  • A thin strip of colored paper, foam, etc.
  • Clear tape

How to Make Target Stick # 1

Step 1

Make a hole in the styrofoam ball with the toothpick, then twist it around to make the hole a bit bigger.

Step 2

Twist the dowel into the hole made by the toothpick.

Step 3

Take the dowel out and squirt a bit of hot glue in the hole, then put the dowel back in.

Finished Target Stick!

How to Make Target Stick # 2

Step 1

Cut out a thin strip of colored paper. Stick the strip of paper onto a piece of tape, leaving a bit of tape on each side of the paper.

Step 2

Cut off any excess paper sticking out from the width of the tape.

Step 3

Cut the piece of tape off the roll so you have a thin piece of tape with the colored paper strip in the middle (as shown in the picture below.)

Step 4

Wrap the tape around the tip of the dowel.

Step 5

Cut off any extra tape sticking out from the tip of the target stick.

Finished Target Stick!