Live Bait

[oli]

hi guys,
just a quick question, last year at inanda i saw 2 guys catch small fish with very small hooks and earthworm , when they had these small fish in a bucket they got into a small boat and said now they going for bass.
at that time i dident know what to thinck of it as i was new to bass fishing, and i had often used live bait in the sea myself, but now it has been on my mind for a while , and i would like to know what the law on this is , and what i can do if i see this again :?:

[lazy-ike]

i think it's eleagal, or so i've heard. :?:

[Guest]

yes it is eleagal to use live bait in fresh water,and there is a still fine for doin it, that was when i was still there and might have changed, the best thing to do is contact parks borad and ask them they will tell real quick if it not allowed

[robfisher]

Live bait (or food of any kind) isn?t allowed in Bass Fishing competitions? only artificial lures. I don?t think there is any actual law but it?s frowned upon by the purists? it?s kind of like spinning for Trout? not really the done thing.

[lazy-ike]

i can use lice bait in the sea right?

[oli]

hi lazy-ike
you should have a permit for live bait like cracker shrimp , sea lice and so on but the laws an that also change every few years, i used to have a gereral bait licence which gave you use of x amount of a variaty of bait, now it is all individual.

[Guest]

oli: As far as I know it is illegal in fresh water.

[Guest]

I can't see why live bait fishing in fresh water is illegal. Guys use earthworms, crabs and insects which can still be alive when tossed in.

Using live bait in bass fishing compo's is illegal, but guys targeting monster bass in the US mostly use live shinners. This is a favoured bait for Doug H the "Bass Professor"

I have bought a couple of goldfish before which I hooked up, and did catch some bass - not lunkers though. Landed a nice 14kg barbel :lol:

[drew]

I'm with you Fishton. I don't know if it is still the case, but my late mother worked for Parks Board in the late seventies and early eighties. Back then, livebait fishing in any body of fresh water was illegal.

[robdog]

The use of "live bait" in any body of fresh water is still illegal but no one seems to take any notice!

[Ninja]

Robdog you hit the nail on the head, " no one take notice", just like it's going to be with the new laws on our boat registration and skippers lisence. We are going to pay and get it and others will just continue as is and no one will take notice.

[drew]

The only people who will notice if you have a skippers or not is your insurance company. They will not insure you unless you have a skippers. Well, I should say anyone involved in marine specialist insurance won't.

[Fab]

Hi Guyz.....


This looks like a grey area filled with uncertainty!!!!! I know for a fact that with comps it's an absolute no no and you will be disqualified....

As for day to day fishing, nobody seems to be 100% sure.... Is somebody going to try find something on the internet with regards to this topic and try shed some light??? I've got a club meeting tomorrow night and I'll try remember to ask the guyz there....

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[Guest]

Hi All
I've seen guys live baiting with blue-gill in our local water, and approached the Natal Parks ranger in charge. He claimed it was legal if the live-bait was caught in the same water being fished. I'm dead against it. Like shooting a canned lion. What about barbel fisherman using live frogs bought from a bait shop? That's also live-baiting. Certainly not much of a challenge bass fishing with live-bait, and isn't it the challenge that keeps us going back?

[pomerob]

Guys I think some confusion has come in since they made fishing with live plathannes illegal. We get 2 types locally one of them is on the endanged list and they are very difficult to tell apart, hence they have just made fishing with platties illegal. But as robdog said not that anyone takes notice or gives a s%$t.