Soft plastic on treble hook?

[Fishin’ Finatic]

 I know you can’t use live bait on treble hooks in NH for ice fishing, but wondering if it is legal to use soft plastics on a treble?  A pro guide said no, and the state regs are very vague, but I chatted with a fish & game officer at Bass Pro Shop in Hooksett a few weeks ago and he thought it was OK. Anyone have any good or bad experience with the issue?

[Running for flags]

The law states no live bait can be tipped on a treble hook, as I have heard here before if it was or is alive at some point then it’s not allowed! But it’s always at the descretion of the warden.

[WhiteMTfish]

I know you can’t use live bait on treble hooks in NH for ice fishing, but wondering if it is legal to use soft plastics on a treble?  A pro guide said no, and the state regs are very vague, but I chatted with a fish & game officer at Bass Pro Shop in Hooksett a few weeks ago and he thought it was OK. Anyone have any good or bad experience with the issue?

Soft plastics were never alive.

[meatandmetal]

Soft plastics were never alive.

"Don't put me on a treble hook!!!!"

[ScotNH]

Soft plastics were never alive.

The regulations use the term “ingestible substance.” I think this is where the confusion comes from. Powerbait was also never alive, but it is specifically identified. I thought this came up last year on here, and someone got an official answer from Fish & Game that it was legal to put soft plastics on a treble hook. I’ll try to find that post.

Bait: Dead or live natural bait whether in part or whole and includes but is not limited to fish, mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians, invertebrates, reptiles, or their progeny or eggs, and power bait or any ingestible substance.

[ScotNH]

https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=356919.msg3819550#msg3819550

Here’s a quote from NHHARDWATER from February from the post linked above.

Just got off the phone with a law division rep.

"powerbait" in the definition of "BAIT" refers ONLY to the dough or nugget type imitations... soft plastic "powerbait" (i.e. gulp minnows, etc) or any other soft plastic imitations are okay to put on a treble, just not the nugget/dough.

I asked them to consider altering the definition and not use the term "powerbait" for the fact that one would have a strong argument if they were tipping a treble with other brands of dough/nugget type products that, otherwise would fall directly under the definition of "artificial bait". Powerbait is a brand, and it comes in many forms. Only the nuggets/dough are illegal on a treble.

Also, I learned that it is IN FACT NOT LEGAL to tip a treble with "bait" in ANY NH WATERBODY WHILE ICE FISHING
I did not know this until now....

[Fishin’ Finatic]

Thanks for the info. I never even considered that “Power bait” nuggets aren’t allowed. Guess I won’t be doing that again. (Except on a small Hali jig with a single hook on a 1” chain tipped with a gold flake crappie nugget.......Deadly!)