Thanks for the welcome Woodworker42. I spoke to a Crappie.com member at Appalachia Bay boat ramp a few days prior to the last tournament but didn't get a name. We were sandbass fishing and the guy I spoke to was scouting for the tournament.

I understand that we have a real problem with invasive species like zebra mussles, etc. but I don't think live bait anglers are the main problem. While I support the ODWC and the great job they do with few resources I have a problem with the way the regs are written and open for interpretation. For instance, under the new reg no more than 25 bait fish may be taken from any river or stream. Small sunfish are sometimes used for bait and there are no size or bag limits on them. Technically I could take several hundred and still be legal under the bag limit regs but if I used them for bait I couldn't have more than 25
The new regs also don't address bait purchased from a bait shop. The regs also don't address other aquatic species used for bait like frogs, crawfish, tadpoles etc. My concern is that some overzealous LEO will throw the book some poor guy based upon his interpretation of the law.

I just wanted to get as much input as possible to proposed changes by Okla fishermen. I encourage everyone to log on and respond on the ODWC website.

I am looking forward to meeting you and other CDC members and will provide fishing reports and input to the board. My wife just had hip replacement surgery so I will be tied up at home for several weeks so I will look forward to reading the reports on the board.