Thread: Bluegills for bait

THank you kindly JonEugene, i really appreciate you looking up on that. I do catch my bream on rod and reel and then use them for bait and because i was taught to do this by my pop, who is about as law-abiding as they come, i thought that it was legal. And breambuster, i know what i said earlier was wrong but i think i wasnt being very clear on my statement. i dont condone illegal practices and i was trying to get the point across that until i find information stating that it is illegal to use bream for bait, i plan to keep on doing what i have done all my life. Have fun on your next outing guys.

no problem always willing to help someone out

its a fish eat fish world ....I call it upgrading ...minnow will catch bream ,,,why cant bream catch catfish,striper largemouth ...they gonna eat em anyhow or they wouldn't bite ........you can cut bream up and catch more bream did it as a kid due to funds and lack of worms when a snake was under the haybale!!!!

If I'm fishing for strictly catfish, I prefer to fillet them first, then put a triangular fillet on a Kahle hook on a slipsinker rig, as slab slaying fool described. But if you're out to catch catfish or anything other species, fish them whole. Sometimes I hook them in front of the tail, other times in front of the dorsal fin.

In WV you can use bluegills as bait, BUT have to be caught on rod an reel, and they also have to used in the same waters as caught in. Only 1 gill at a time, NO catching a few to put in a bucket for later. This came from 1 of our head DNR Officers Brett Preston.

A game warden told me that if I catch bait in my private pond there is no exemption in Texas. The annual game rule book isn't easy to interprit on traps and jug lines.

I have an old Zebco telescoping crappie rod that goes out to 8ft. I keep it dropshop rigged with a small bell sinker on the end and about a foot up a cricket hook that I reshape the curve so it is smaller. I tip that with a piece of cut night crawler. That is my set up for catching bream for catfishing.

I like to fish them live just hooking behind the top fin and not close to the center of the fish as to avoid the spine and other vitals. Circle hooks are the key for me. I rig the rods up to just pull drag, toss out the bait, sit back and wait.