# Trout for bait?



## cali2ohio (Nov 27, 2010)

Has anybody ever used cut trout for bait on the Ohio river?


----------



## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

I don't know about that, but in Tenn & Ky, they use whole ones for Stripers


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

Is trout a game fish? If it is I'd say it would be like using a bass for bait which I hear is illegal.... But anyways they work great in lakes.... They are real oily cut them into chunks the size you want to use before you freeze it or when it thaws out it just falls appart


----------



## PT-63 (Oct 10, 2011)

Tennessee they hafta be farm raised. You get a live fish transport number or tag supplied by the vendor.TWRA is tough on enforcing that one too."TROUT minnows" are smolts up to 6-7 inches, and cost $1 ea.


----------



## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

zack2345 said:


> Is trout a game fish? If it is I'd say it would be like using a bass for bait which I hear is illegal....


Sorry, you heard wrong. Any fish, caught by legal means and within legal limits, may be used as bait in Ohio. 

The Ohio River get confusing, as it depends on where you are fishing at the time. Unless I'm mistaken, trout should be legal to use from the Ohio bank, but if in a boat or the opposite shore, you'd need to find out WVa and KY laws.

I do know of it being experimented with a few times. I've never seen it work. I think it is too foreign to them, but, it was cut. Live may be different.


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

I Fish said:


> Sorry, you heard wrong. Any fish, caught by legal means and within legal limits, may be used as bait in Ohio.
> 
> The Ohio River get confusing, as it depends on where you are fishing at the time. Unless I'm mistaken, trout should be legal to use from the Ohio bank, but if in a boat or the opposite shore, you'd need to find out WVa and KY laws.
> 
> I do know of it being experimented with a few times. I've never seen it work. I think it is too foreign to them, but, it was cut. Live may be different.


Well I'm talkin about like the bass we catch in creeks while bait fishing they look so perfect .... I doubt people catching catfish bait carry a ruler to make sure their bass are 12" ... I understand a bass of legal size you can do what ever with but who would target them to fish with?


----------



## plumberroy (Aug 3, 2013)

zack2345 said:


> Well I'm talkin about like the bass we catch in creeks while bait fishing they look so perfect .... I doubt people catching catfish bait carry a ruler to make sure their bass are 12" ... I understand a bass of legal size you can do what ever with but who would target them to fish with?


I have thought of putting together a combo to handle carp/ buffalo bait fish that size I would not be above using a bass


----------



## Dana.Birrell (Apr 23, 2012)

zack2345 said:


> Well I'm talkin about like the bass we catch in creeks while bait fishing they look so perfect .... I doubt people catching catfish bait carry a ruler to make sure their bass are 12" ... I understand a bass of legal size you can do what ever with but who would target them to fish with?


I use them for flathead.


----------



## Bad Bub (Jan 17, 2006)

I Fish said:


> I do know of it being experimented with a few times. I've never seen it work. I think it is too foreign to them, but, it was cut. Live may be different.


I highly doubt it is any more foreign than chicken liver...


----------



## MassillonBuckeye (May 3, 2010)

Bad Bub said:


> I highly doubt it is any more foreign than chicken liver...


Well if they have Chicken of the Sea, you'd think there'd be Chicken of the Lakes and Rivers??


----------



## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

Bad Bub said:


> I highly doubt it is any more foreign than chicken liver...


I suppose not. I've seen catfish eat shrimp, so, I don't know, just a theory. Being unfamiliar is the only explanation we could come up with, as we were catching fish on all the other rods, while the trout for bait rods didn't get a hit. 

This happened more than once. My FIL had a few bags of trout. My MIL didn't like it and refused to cook it. We tried to use it as bait, but, it was a bust. As I said earlier, live may be different.


----------



## FlashGordon (Mar 19, 2014)

cali2ohio said:


> Has anybody ever used cut trout for bait on the Ohio river?


I've used trout heads as catfish bait, and they worked fine.

They're REALLY good for baiting crawfish traps.


----------



## ztkaz (Sep 25, 2013)

Using a whole rainbow trout might actually be against the law. Heads may not be. There's a law about using sport fish for bait for sport fish I'm not 100%.


Sent from my iPhone using Ohub Campfire


----------



## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

ztkaz....You are 100% wrong on the sport fish for bait, at least in Ohio. As was previously mentioned, if the bait is taken legally and is of legal size, you can use it for bait and that includes trout....


----------



## FAB (May 26, 2013)

However the law does state that no fish may be possessed while on the stream bank, lake or boat except whole and in the round. I think if you do cut them up, that could be your problem. I am not sure a warden would take exception to the use but it's something to consider.


----------



## FlashGordon (Mar 19, 2014)

FAB said:


> However the law does state that no fish may be possessed while on the stream bank, lake or boat except whole and in the round. I think if you do cut them up, that could be your problem. I am not sure a warden would take exception to the use but it's something to consider.


The purpose of that law is really intended to prevent people from taking more than their daily limit and hiding it by cutting the fish up. 

Imagine if someone had 10 lbs of diced up saugeye fillets in a cooler......sure it's _possible_ they caught 5 monsters and got 2 pounds of fillets off each one. But its much more likely they caught 20 and got 1/2 pound of fillets off each one and are lying that they only took 5. That's the kind of situation that law was written for.

People use cut bait all the time.


----------



## FAB (May 26, 2013)

Yes sir you are correct in the spirit of the law and I know that was the purpose however it can be applied in other circumstances if the officer so chooses then the burden falls on you to show origin and purpose . Most likely would not become an issue to most protectors however if there are other circumstances present it could be used as a violation that you would have to defend against. The whole issue really makes no difference to me just throwing out the what if's. If the officer so chooses (the what if) he can follow the letter of the law as it is written and issue the citation for violation of the statute


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

By law any fish caught in lets say a creek can't be used as bait any where else but that creek... Every one does it but if we're getting technical that's the law.... You can't transport any fish from one body of water to another... And for my post before I'm not saying not to use bass but I'm saying creek chubs and shiners work better why would any one go to a creek and target bass which have to be longer than 12" when you can just catch a bucket full of chubs and shiners?


----------



## nonamer (Feb 20, 2014)

Size is everything. If it is a fish with a size limit on it you will need to prove that it is big enough to use or keep.


----------



## barillms (Aug 28, 2013)

Using bass is legal. Using any game fish is legal, as long as its a "keeper" size.


----------



## wabi (Jun 14, 2008)

I have no idea abut the river, but in the lakes where trout are stocked in the spring cut trout can be a great bait for catfish!
A couple years ago I had some trout freezer burn, so I cut it up for bait for channel cats. Caught two of the biggest channel cats I've ever seen come out of the local lake! (both were "Fish Ohio" qualifiers)


----------



## necker70 (Oct 14, 2007)

How big do the catfish in the Ohio River get?


----------



## nixmkt (Mar 4, 2008)

zack2345 said:


> By law any fish caught in lets say a creek can't be used as bait any where else but that creek... Every one does it but if we're getting technical that's the law.... You can't transport any fish from one body of water to another...


Your interpretation is wrong and has been discussed several times. The reg states_ "is unlawful to transport and introduce any aquatic species (fish, invertebrate, plant) from one body of water to another."_ "Introducing" new species is the key. Transporting fish somewhere else that they already exist is not illegal.


----------



## nixmkt (Mar 4, 2008)

FAB said:


> However the law does state that no fish may be possessed while on the stream bank, lake or boat except whole and in the round. I think if you do cut them up, that could be your problem. I am not sure a warden would take exception to the use but it's something to consider.





FAB said:


> Yes sir you are correct in the spirit of the law and I know that was the purpose however it can be applied in other circumstances if the officer so chooses then the burden falls on you to show origin and purpose . Most likely would not become an issue to most protectors however if there are other circumstances present it could be used as a violation that you would have to defend against. The whole issue really makes no difference to me just throwing out the what if's. If the officer so chooses (the what if) he can follow the letter of the law as it is written and issue the citation for violation of the statute


Discussed this with supervising officer at Dist. 3 when it first came out. He hadn't seen it yet then and was somewhat annoyed by it, and agreed although the wording was intended to combat over-limiting walleye on Erie, it appeared to affect using cut bait too. He said citations should not be issued for using cut bait for catfishing. When I commented an officer that was having a bad day could write a ticket for using cut bait for catfishing, he said if that happened, to come in and that officer would be having a much harder day after that.


----------



## PymyBone (Jan 12, 2014)

I've used cut trout a couple times for catfish, and always seemed to have luck with them. The skin is softer than say that of a bluegill so they don't stay on the hook as well if you are casting from shore. They are much more oily than most fish used as cut bait so I think that's kind of what appeals to the cats.


----------

