MA Poacher Busted for Oversized Striped Bass

Photo/New Hampshire Fish & Game Law Enforcement Division & Operation Game Thief.

A Massachusetts fisherman was arrested in Portsmouth, NH, last week after being caught with 14 striped bass well over the state’s legal upper size limit of 31 inches. The bass ranged in size from 37 to 47 inches long and were apparently taken off the coast of New Castle and Rye, where a large concentration of stripers has gathered to feed on menhaden in recent weeks.

Various agencies from different states responded after receiving numerous reports from other anglers that the suspect had been keeping large bass and fishing after dark with no running lights. The Portsmouth Police Department eventually located the offender at a launch ramp after he had loaded his boat onto a trailer and was in the act of concealing the fish.

According to police reports, the suspect had planned to sell the illegal fish in Massachusetts under his commercial striped bass permit (Massachusetts has a commercial fishery for striped bass, but New Hampshire does not). He is currently awaiting court proceedings to determine a punishment.