TAGGING The distribution of 50 striped bass (mean total length = 510 ± 48 mm; range = 403 to 597 mm) was quantified with VEMCO V13-R64k coded acoustic transmitters (frequency of 69 kHz, a ping rate of 60 to180 s, estimated tag life of one year). Striped bass were caught via hook-and-line on June 17-18, 2009 (N = 30) and June 29 (N = 20). Using clove oil as the anesthetic (1.5 μL of clove oil/L of water; mean application time = 8.9 min, SE = 1.1 min; Cooke et al. 2004, Pautzke et al. 2010), fish were first weighed (g) and measured (TL, mm). Tags were then surgically implanted (Bridger and Booth 2003) using a sterile scalpel to make a 2–3-cm incision 2 cm above the ventral midline and approximately 1.5 cm behind the pelvic fin. Through this opening, a transmitter was inserted into the peritoneal cavity and the incision was closed with three stitches using sterile dissolvable sutures (Ethicon Monocryl violet monofilament suture with 3/8” curved cutting needle). After tagging, each striped bass was injected with oxytetracycline (0.1 mg/kg of fish; Liquamycin; Pfizer, New York; Callahan 2009) and placed in a recovery tank filled with ambient temperature estuary water until the fish swam upright (mean recovery time = 21.3 min; SE = 1.2 min). All tagged fish were released upon recovery at the approximate site of capture. MANUAL SURVEY A VEMCO VR100 tracking receiver with a VH-165 omni-directional hydrophone was used to manually survey tagged fish at forty sample sites once a month from July-October, 2009. The sites were chosen to cover all regions and habitats of the estuary. For one week each month (July-October, 2009), with the hydrophone about 0.5 m below the boat, fish detections were recorded for 15 min at each site. All 40 sites were visited on both an ebbing and a flooding tide each month. Sites were divided into five groups and the order of visitation for each group was randomized for each survey. All sites were visited within six days.