Maine Coast Sportfish Trackers

First Striped Bass Tagged

October 6, 2003
Jacque Carter
We caught and tagged our first striped bass! Local sportfisherman, Dick Anderson, caught a 21 inch striped bass at the mouth of the Saco River on the outgoing tide using a “secret special fly”. The fish was netted and brought back to the marine science center and put it into the surgery holding tank. Once back at the lab, our research vet, Dr. Gerry Beekman worked quickly to anesthetize the fish and surgically insert tag # 65. We changed the surgery tank water and the fish began to wake up. Within minutes it woke up and began to swim. After a few days of recovery to insure the surgical wound was healed, we released the fish up river near Marble Head. We immediately heard the click of the transmitter in the fish from the mobile hydrophone and receiver in the boat. The fish was named ‘Mitch’ in honor of the Lotek technician who provided us with essential training and assistance throughout the initial stages of this project. For another hour we tracked it as it went first downstream towards UNE.

Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL License.