Internal anchor tags with external tubes were used to tag 3, 319 striped bass in the Fall of 1987 and 2,024 in the Spring of 1988 in the Rappahannock River. The total number tagged was adjusted to 3,170 and 1,973 by removing from consideration all fish that were at large less than a week. The available stock of striped bass in the Spring contained both young resident fish and mature nonresident fish which left the area of capture after spawning, presumably to migrate north in coastal waters. The exodus of the mature fish after spawning was responsible, in part, for a low exploitation rate of 0.038. During the fall tagging a larger number of the striped bass tagged were the smaller resident fish which led to a higher exploitation rate of 0. 3
