# 49200: Subject: Piscataqua River, New Hampshire

Submitted by Capt Joel Koch (ip 216.195.132.101)

• Fished on 6/15/2003

• Report received: 6/16/03

Water Temperature: 54
Water Clarity: clear
Seas: choppy
Weather: overcast turning to sunny and warm
Fishing_for: Striped Bass
Boat: Reel Ecstasy
captain: .

Report:
Fishing Report June 15, 2003.

Usually I don’t like to go out on a Sunday but I had a special Father’s Day trip planned for Scott, his wife and Mother and Father. Originally we planned on going out on Friday but of course the weather report was lousy and I decided to reschedule for Sunny Sunday. Well it was really crowded on the Piscataqua River as it was the first nice weekend day in a while. The fish didn’t seem to mind the crowd though. We caught a bunch of nice fish. For a while Scott’s mom Faye was in the lead with a 31” Striper and she certainly was not going to let the fishermen forget it. We finally hooked up with a real smoker and Scott brought to the net a beautiful 37” Striped Bass. Like a true sportsmen Scott was real happy to release him to fight another day. All fish were caught chunking on 15lb tackle on outgoing and incoming tides. Speaking of releasing fish, are you using circle hooks? All anglers using them agree fewer fish are hooked in vital areas and can be released to fight another day when circle hooks are used. On a 15 or 20 fish day the mortality rate of released fish when not using circle hook is huge. It takes time to get used to using them, and it is important not to set the hook, just tighten up on the line and let the hook ease into the corner of the fishes mouth. When using this technique you will find if you don’t hook up with a fish chances are they will come back and hit the bait again as it is still in the strike zone. We have a great Striper fishery that has taken a long time to get back, lets release all the fish we can with a good chance for survival. Good Fishing, Capt. Joel. www.nhsaltwaterfishing.com

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