Maine bait fish regulations question

[sploke]

I'm reviewing the regulations on acceptable baitfish and it's raising a question for me.  The regulation states:

The following are the only fish species that may be used as bait (live or dead) for fishing in Maine’s inland waters. Any other fish species must be immediately killed or released alive into the water from which it was taken. Any fish killed becomes part of the daily bag limit:


 • Common Shiner
 • Golden Shiner
 • Rainbow Smelt
 • Blacknose Dace
 • Finescale Dace
 • Northern Redbelly Dace
 • Pearl Dace
 • Creek Chub
 • Lake Chub
 • Eastern Silvery Minnow
 • Fathead Minnow
 • Fallfish
 • Longnose Sucker
 • White Sucker
 • Banded Killifish
 • Mummichog
 • American Eel

So, clearly yellow perch is not considered an acceptable baitfish.  However, I've seen folks catch a perch, properly dispatch it, pull out the eye and use that as bait for further fish.  Is this technically against regs, since you're using effectively a dead fish (albeit in part) as bait, and said fish as not on the approved list.  Is there a line between using a whole dead fish vs just using parts?  Another instance would be using, say, a strip of pike skin as bait on a jig for cusk.  Pike's not an acceptable baitfish...but if you're only using parts, is it really considered using "the fish" as bait?

[9huskies]

The way I understand the rule is baitfish refers to whole fish and pieces of fish is  "cut bait".

[darby74]

The way I understand the rule is baitfish refers to whole fish and pieces of fish is  "cut bait".

Completely agree.  Then again, I could be way wrong.  Hopefully a warden would use his brain, make an informed decision, and let the rest if us know what the State means....not just give a ticket.  I use strip bait soaked in Menhaden oil for cusk bait

[Boglake]

Is cut bait defined somewhere in the law book?

[woodchip]

I wonder if anyone has ever used fish oil capsules for bait.

[Jack978]

Chances are the list is what's native to state waters.  The purpose is likely to prevent people from introducing species like goldfish or something like that and having them released into our waters.     Feeder goldfish are way cheaper than smelts or shiners.  As for cut bait I doubt wardens would ticket you for using pieces of fish especially if you caught the fish in the water you are fishing in.  I've had my license checked and verified it was actually me using it since apparently the latest scam is people lending their license to out of staters or friends who don't have one but never had my bait checked.  As for fish oil capsules for bait I suspect they would wash out quick and the capsules would dissolve pretty fast. 

[sploke]

Is cut bait defined somewhere in the law book?

Not that I could find, no.

[Boglake]

I read the laws very literally, if they go so far as to name specific kinds of salmon eggs for bait then the only fish that can be used as bait of any kind are the ones listed.  Bunch of outlaws, good thing a few of us follow the rules! 

[jacksmelt71]

unfortunately it depends on the warden. ive called Augusta and they told me you could use it dead, yet a warden told me no. wish they would get on the same page with these laws. not the 1st time ive heard conflicting info.

[sploke]

unfortunately it depends on the warden. ive called Augusta and they told me you could use it dead, yet a warden told me no. wish they would get on the same page with these laws. not the 1st time ive heard conflicting info.

That's more or less what I expected to hear...I've been coming up north to fish on Moosehead for 10+ years, we've gotten checked by a warden more times than we haven't...but I've never had one ask me to pull a line or inspect bait, so I'll do what I do and not worry about it any further.

[mzhoward]

As a teenager I was checked by a warden and he interviewed me out at a trap a couple hundred yards from the shack. I told him I had a four inch yellow perch on as bait, dead.

I’d never done it before.

When I got back to the shack, the warden was gone, but my dad and uncle told me to replace it with a big sucker. I found out later , once they started drinking whiskey, that the warden told them I should be busted for illegal bait.

Not sure why he didn’t tell me directly. I was, and still am, honest to a fault with wardens.