Satellite tag to tell four-month story of striped bass
Drew Johnson, his son Luke Johnson and their friend Dave Vitella with their dogs and the MiniPSAT tag they found on Lewes Beach. The tag was deployed in a 46-inch striped bass named Independence, caught off Montauk, N.Y., over Fourth of July weekend 2020. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Eric Burnley January 2, 2021
We have all heard of a message in a bottle, but three Lewes residents – Drew Johnson, his son Luke Johnson and their friend Dave Vitella – found a message in a satellite tag. They were walking their dogs along Lewes Beach when they found the MiniPSAT satellite tag that had been deployed during the Fourth of July weekend in a 46-inch striped bass named Independence by a team from The Fisherman Magazine, Gray FishTag Research and the Navionics Striped Bass Study. The fish was caught, tagged and released on a bucktail off Montauk, N.Y.