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I live down here in SW Louisiana and I have been using live bluegills and sunfish my entire life for catching catfish on limb-lines and trot-lines and i was notified by a buddy of mine that it is illegal to use these fish for bait. Whether it is illegal or not i plan to keep on using them for bait but i was wondering if any of you fellas might know if this is true or not.
Thanks
I would check your state regulation book.
Here in Illinois it is legal to use bluegill for bait but they MUST be caught from the same water you are using them in.
It comes in handy that the bream can't tell where they came from.:D:D:D
Most folks here get them from a local canal, then take them for a ride on the river. ;)Illinoisgiller
I to have been useing them all my life and here in Ks. and Ar. you are allowed to use them as long as they have been caught as said earlier from the same water AND they must be legaly hooked, no snagging or netting.
The only thing I can think of that works better are small 10 or 12 inch Bull head catfish if you are tageting Mud Cats, if you really want to get into the Bull Cat action try useing a big long strip of cut carp fillet.
Good luck to you from Ks. hope you can find a beautiful day to spend fishing?!!
Rusty
Hey I live in OK. we have some big cats here but have never fished for the big one until now been having fun with it what is the best bait for flatheads and blues I have tried the perch but they just die on my line help me out.
really any type of live bait for flatheads i prefer bluegill/sunfishQuote:
Originally Posted by J.Clayton
just rig them on so that you have your main line to a good swivel
i use power swivels but before i tie on i use a slip style sinker like a
no roll or barrel sinker and a bead to help protect the sinker
sliding down against the knot tied to the swivel then usually a 12 to 16 inch leader just heavy mono line from the swivel to a 9 or 10/0 kahl hook i hook most all my live bait a few inches up from the tail so that it swims as natural as possible with the leaded set the bait clickers/runners and wait
any other questions ask away
Most states have bream listed as game fish, this being said, If your state has a daily creel limit for game fish you must count the amount you have CAUGHT BY HOOK AND LINE in your daliy limit...For example If the state says you can keep 50 game fish per day and you have caught 25 fish and you still have 25 bream in the bait tank,,and the right game warden wants to he could say your day is done as far as harvesting.....There again if you take a bream out of the tank and rigged it up would they let you trade it for the next bass or catfish that bites?????Only known by someone who has had this run in....Rules and reg publications are not really clear for all to understand :rolleyes:
Guess REELFUNGUY wants to get his point across. Catch them and hook them right under their dorsal. I put mine on jugs and trotlines.
You condone poaching and/or committing a game violation even if you know it is illegal? Wow, don't know what to say blatant violators...maybe a local game warden will see this post. Good luck using illegal bait!Quote:
Originally Posted by eagleheaded
It is legal to use bream in VA but I would recommend contacting the game comission in your state to find out for sure.
For big flatheads it is always best to use live bait especially when the water gets really warm. For the big blues I like to use cut bait, some kind of shad... it might be a sin to say this here but cut crappie works really well also!!! Hope this helps.Quote:
Originally Posted by J.Clayton
Blake
As said lots of times the wording isn,t real clear before anyone gets bent out of shape it may be legal in la. In Alabama you can have the creel limint to be used to the catchers desire not to exceed 50 in 1 day. i,ve used brim & whole crappie heads on weiss some of the best fishing is by the cleaning stations where they discard the heads.
Bream (Lepomis spp.) may not be taken as bait for sportfishing purposes in any form of trap except at Toledo Bend Reservoir, where a minnow trap not exceeding 24 inches in length and having a throat no larger than one inch by three inches may be used to take bream for non-commercial bait This is strait off the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries web site I asked a game warden that i know and he said if you catch them on rod and reel you can use them as bait. I checked into this a few years back after someone told me that it was not legal to use them.
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.
There is a limit on the numbers of bream that can be caught on our local lakes, but funny thing is bream is sold out of minnow farms around here to be used for bait. Sold by the hundred...or used to be when I fished jugs. Law?!? I dunno know but since I know who the game warden is in my area a phone call would be easy. Dont ask AROUND the law. If you really want to know then give 'em a call personally.;) Problem solved!:)