Tag #3 Is Found - The Fisherman
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Tag #3 Is Found

December 28, 2020 by Jim Hutchinson, Jr.

THE TALE OF INDEPENDENCE

INDEPENDENCE FOUND – On December 21, Drew Johnson and son Luke, along with good friend Dave Vitella, stumbled upon the third MiniPSAT device of the 2020 Northeast Striped Bass Study while walking their dogs along the beach at Lewes, DE. Check the video for breaking news and get the full story about Independence and her travels in the February edition of The Fisherman.

 

On November 13, 2020, the MiniPSAT device from a 46-inch striped bass named Independence first began uploading data to the Argos satellite somewhere along the Delaware Bayshore.  As reported by The Fisherman Magazine at that time via social media, there were 10 days of battery life in that satellite tag during which time the high-tech device would upload critical tracking information to the satellite for this big striper caught off Montauk on July 3, 2020.

 

As noted in the January, 2021 edition Tale End feature, on or about November 13, 2020 the Northeast Striped Bass Study team finally lost the signal from that satellite tracking device somewhere in the marshes along the New Jersey side of the Delaware Bay.  On Monday, December 21, 38 days since last we’d heard from the tag – just 4 days after a raging December nor’easter ravaged the coast – a father and son out for a walk on the beach with a friend and their dogs made a miracle discovery on the beach at Lewes, DE.

 

Pick up the January edition of The Fisherman to get caught up to speed, and look for the February edition coming out in February for full details on Independence, her four months of travel and more information about this incredible tag discovery in Delaware.