Perch or bluegills??

[bwalleye]

I received a more detailed response from the DEC and I post it here:  If you would like a forward of the e-mail which of course would include headers, pm me a note with your e-mail address.

It is permissible to use sunfish or perch caught by hook and line as bait, provided you are able to legally have that fish in your possession. However, please keep the following in mind:

1. Using a sunfish or a perch as bait counts as part of your "take" of that species.  If you catch a sunfish or a perch, use it for bait, and then lose it, it counts as one fish toward your daily limit. You can never possess more than the legal limit for a fish species while you are on the water, with that limit counting any fish you lost while using them for bait. Please keep in mind that while the statewide limit of sunfish and perch is 50, some areas of the state/water bodies have lower limits, such as Nassau and Suffolk Counties where the limit on sunfish and perch is 15 fish each. You would not be able to use sunfish or perch as bait anywhere in NYC because there is a catch and release regulation on all species of fish, so you would not be able to "take" the fish to use as bait.

2. Some waters have minimum length limits on perch (i.e. Nassau County has an 8 inch minimum size limit). You cannot use a sub-legal sunfish or perch for bait on waters where there is a minimum length limit because you are not allowed to "take" that fish.

I hope you found this information useful.

FWFISHgk

>>>  <[email protected]> 01/19/06 11:09 AM >>>
Is it permissible to use sunfish or perch caught by hook and line as bait?

[bigdave1018]

using baby gills[ the real small ones] used to be a nono in ny for perch bait but using the bigger ones for cats and n. pike were ok. makes sense to me???

[Rangerclay]

I have never been afraid to admit when I am wrong.  But here is the straight poop.  I got an e-mail the other day from a friend who spoke with an EnCon Officer on the ice.  Basically his story re-enforces what BWalleye has said.  Here is what was passed onto me.

"Got the skinny on this perch/sunfish issue with new Encon Guy..tells me that if you are fishing on waters where there are no limit on perch/sunnies, then it's no problem using them as pike bait.  I was very specific about asking him if it was fish that I caught, not bought if they could be used.  The only reason he said that waters with limited amounts could be kept was because EnCon would never know how many you actually kept and used per day...supposing a 25 perch limit, you had 20 in your pail and 5 on the TU's, how many did you catch and use as bait before he came along and counted 25??  Still at the legal limit, but how many did you catch and have taken by pike as bait, died on the hook and dropped, etc."

Thanks for the help Paul.  I hope this answers everyones questions.

Ranger

[Skipper]

such a fuss, Ive always had better results with shiners anyway.

[Big Burk]

i dont know if it would be illegal here in SK but i know its illegal to use live baitfish

[Skipper]

Are you serious! You cant even use suckers or shiners?!!

[Danderson]

that sounds really stupid. whats SK stand for? lol. ive seen a guy using crappies as bait and although its illeagal, im gonna try it out cause he was having flags every half hour! saw him loose a 10 pounder at the hole. its leagal to use perch though. trim them up though so they look skinier

[deadsmelthead]

I always post in these too late , what bwalleye said is correct In my opinion perch are the best Pike bait out there and of you want hog Walleyes well I won't say any thing else. Put it this way I fish for perch to fish for pike.

[Hollywood703]

Sk = saskatchewan

[Hollywood703]

that sounds really stupid. whats SK stand for? lol. ive seen a guy using crappies as bait and although its illeagal, im gonna try it out cause he was having flags every half hour! saw him loose a 10 pounder at the hole. its leagal to use perch though. trim them up though so they look skinier

doing something illegal just because you saw someone benefitting from it....another example of the same thing, which by your standards should be ok to do if i follow you correctly.....you see a man shoot another person, and take their wallet...benefitting financially.....so your gonna do it right?  however more violent the crime, it is still a crime.....come up with another alternative, it only takes 1 person to give a group a bad name.

[Lobes]

At any rate. Getting back to the original question ...
Bluegills will catch more pike than perch. If you fish where you can legally do this try both and see what you get.