Quote Originally Posted by DShock
Quote Originally Posted by drolfson
Gigmaster;

Pretty much from what I understand, the only way you will get in trouble with this regulation is if the game officer sees you leaving the area with the live fish. In other words, he comes by and checks license while you are fishing and sees you with you cooler full of live fish. Then waits down the road with his binocs for you to leave and 'makes an example of you.'

The reasoning behind it is to control the cross planting of fish. After they renovate a lake and then plant it with only bluegills and bass, they would prefer it stay that way for as long as possible. Then someone who thinks crappie are the best fish in the world goes to the next lake over and fills a bucket and brings it back to the 'clean' lake and dumps it. Viola, now you have crappie in there changing the planned balance. (Yes, the crappie would naturally get there eventually due to inflows and outflows, but not until the others are better established and can help control them though.) Anyway, since the balance is no longer there, it will be a much shorter time period before they have to renovate again.

Worst case of this. Back hwen I lived in Utah, they opened a new lake up by Heber. (Sorry, can't remember tha name off-hand.) Anyway, it was well on the way to becoming a trophy trout lake, when suddenly people started catching musky (I think it was.) Each year there were more and more large musky and fewer and fewer small trout. They could not even get newly planted trout to remain for long unless they planted rather large ones. (At a much greater cost to you and me.) Last I heard it was going downhill fast all because someone with a head full of monkey manure thought the lake would be better fiching with their favorite fish.

I personally support these regulations. If I am keeping fish, I bleed em and put em on ice. If I am not, back in the drink they go ASAP.

As long as it is legal, I truly could care less what you do though. Heck, my kids would love to have a temporary aquarium of fish while we were filling it up with dinner.

Don
Don,
Your are correct! Oregon has had many miseries with people (jerks) that use live bait and destroy habitats that were meant for trout. "My Grandpa fished with Live bait!, My Dad did!, Don't tell me what to do!" No.1 CASE in point; Diamond Lake in S. Oregon. Diamond Lake was for many years the MOST visited Lake in Oregon for trout fishing, UNTIL......the Chub took over and ruined it! Diamond was ruined and what made it WORSE!, was all the stinking Gov. Red Tape our state had to go through to get permission to poison the Chub! It took YEARS! Just of COURSE!, what held up the poisoning was the FACT that there is a OUTLET stream out of Diamond. You can just imagine ALL of the bleeding hearts that cried about the POISON flowing downstream and ruining the Umpqua River.
I'm NOT a Chemist, but this is how the poison works! It is spread along the shore (shallow water-chub habitat) and it Eliminates the Oxygen from the water for a PERIOD OF TIME!, so THEN the Chub STOP breathing!
My opinion is, If you manage a Body of Water for a certain Species, then if someone introduces an invasive species by using Live Bait!, then THEY should have their BUTT KICKED! and FINED!
This RANT has nothing to do with Warmwater Species managed bodies of water. Bass have the ability to control chub, but Trout don't.
Doug

If you're caught in Ga. using live-bait where it is prohibited, they will put you so far UNDER the jail for so long that the only daylight you will see will have to be MAILED to you! And you will never legally touch a fishing rod in this state again. If your fishing license has been revoked, and you are stopped with a fishing rod in your car (unless it is new and still wrapped, as a gift for someone), you might as well have an assault rifle there (actually, they wouldn't say much about an assault rifle if it wasn't loaded or concealed). You're goin bye-bye for quite a while.

Semper Fi!