Live or Dead Baitfish legal in NY?

[redstanford]

Is it legal to fish with live or dead fish in NY? Does it need to be purchased from a local bait shop or can dead frozen herring purchased online be legal bait?

[ECobb91]

It is legal to fish with live and dead fish in NY, as long as they were bought from a bait shop. Here you have to keep the receipt with you as proof the bait is certified according to DEC regulations (prevents the spread of diseases).

I’m not sure about using frozen bait from a store, I know some use those herrings as cut bait for salmon but idk the regulations for that stuff.

[BeenPerchin315]

Frozen salted bait is legal has to be labeled what it is

[snow snake]

   
Date: Wednesday, December 21, 2022 at 9:19 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: rainbow smelt bait
Can I buy package smelt from grocery store
and use it for bait  that is  sold in freezers
 
RE: rainbow smelt bait
 
Kozlowski, Gregory E (DEC) <[email protected]>
   8:49 AM (1 hour ago)      
 
 
The regulations for the use of dead fish as bait are:
 
Any dead fish, or parts there of excluding eggs, that are legal to possess and are not prohibited for use as bait, that have been packaged for commercial sale and have been preserved by methods other than by freezing only   (e.g., salted minnows) can be used in any water  body where it is legal to use fish as bait and do not require a receipt.
 
Each package of dead bait fish must be individually labeled, identifying the:
 
•       name of the packager/processor,
•       name of the species,
•       quantity of fish contained, and
•       means of preservation.
 
As long as the package of fish you are buying meets the above requirements,
   THEN  they are legal    to use as bait regardless of where you purchase them from.
The likely requirement that could be missing from grocery store purchased fish would be the method of preservation besides freezing alone,
so make sure that requirement is fulfilled prior to purchasing the dead fish for bait.
 
Gregory Kozlowski
Inland Fisheries Section Head, DFW
 
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4753
P: 518-402-8896 | F: 518-402-8925 | [email protected]

   
   I asked about rainbow smelt is because I use  them for pike bait

[Eakimo18]

I use dead bait keep it in original package and no issues with the law