05-14-2013, 08:34 PM
Your suggestion makes sense if everyone were to obey the rule. Unfortunately some do not. Montana has documented over 500 illegal introductions of bait and sportfish west of the continental divide from east of the divide where the use of live bait is allowed. According to their biologists, the allowance of live bait in part of the state is perhaps the single biggest mistake that the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks has made in fisheries management. British Columbia and Oregon have experienced similar problems.
The fact is, live bait catches fish. I have used live minnows in my home state of Pennsylvania to catch tiger muskies and when I have fished in North Carolina for crappie. The temptation to use live bait to catch fish is too great for some people to obey the rules.
Going one step further, if you use live shiners caught in one reservoir to fish in another (where they are already present), you may inadvertently transfer other things such as tapeworms or quagga mussels to the new water.
I grant you that all of the activities I have described are illegal under any scenario you have mentioned, but they would be absolutely impossible to prevent under any rule that allowed the use of live bait in some waters and not others.
We have a very limited and fragile fish fauna in this state. Inadvertent (or intentional) introduction of new species into our waters is perhaps the single biggest threat facing our fisheries. Rules preventing the use of live bait in any water may be inconvenient, but the consequences of even one person not obeying the rule you propose far outweigh any benefit.
Paul Birdsey
Coldwater Sportfish Coordinator
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
[signature]
The fact is, live bait catches fish. I have used live minnows in my home state of Pennsylvania to catch tiger muskies and when I have fished in North Carolina for crappie. The temptation to use live bait to catch fish is too great for some people to obey the rules.
Going one step further, if you use live shiners caught in one reservoir to fish in another (where they are already present), you may inadvertently transfer other things such as tapeworms or quagga mussels to the new water.
I grant you that all of the activities I have described are illegal under any scenario you have mentioned, but they would be absolutely impossible to prevent under any rule that allowed the use of live bait in some waters and not others.
We have a very limited and fragile fish fauna in this state. Inadvertent (or intentional) introduction of new species into our waters is perhaps the single biggest threat facing our fisheries. Rules preventing the use of live bait in any water may be inconvenient, but the consequences of even one person not obeying the rule you propose far outweigh any benefit.
Paul Birdsey
Coldwater Sportfish Coordinator
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
[signature]