deadbait question

[BP Swing]

Can you use deadbait without a receipt from a bait store? IE: Frozen smelt at Wegmans ?

[bloodshot]

Good Q? I was wondering myself. I catch golden shinners from I bay and vacuum pack em and use em all season.

[33canuck]

You still need to show that the bait was certified in some manor so the answer is no. You still need a reciept for any bait live or dead. If you bought it at wegmans make sure you have the packaging and reciept.

[BP Swing]

If you bought it at Wegmans and had the receipt and package, that would still not show that it was certified. Wonder what the DEC does in a case like this.?

[Sean Youngblood]

I would have to say no and no.Here are the regs. from DEC.website.use of dead fish as Bait

Any dead fish, or parts thereof excluding eggs, that have been packaged for

commercial sale and have been preserved

by methods other than by freezing only

(i.e. 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, identifiying the name of

the packager/processor, the name of the

species, the quantity of fish contained,

and the means of preservation.

[BP Swing]

So then no one can use deadbait? Most bait shops dont have certified dead bait do they? You cant use frozen store bought bait and you cant catch your own bait. So how does anyone legally use deadbait which is a top producer of big pike?

[Sean Youngblood]

Some places sell preserved packaged certified bait including smelt,try Gander.I have never bought it, but a guy showed me a package of cured smelt that he had bought and he had some nice pike to boot.I usually just jig up some small perch and throw them on my tip-ups,it has worked good for me here on Silver Lake.

[Cheers]

BP Swing, if you are in Hilton take a ride over to Mitchel's bait on Lake Ave. They have some deadbait that is legal that you might be interested in.

[walleyemagic]

How does it work with self service bait shops, honer system?

[bloodshot]

That virus was only to last 3 years. this whole bait thing is a pain in the can!!! I just had all my dead bait certified

[GAMBLER]

The Wegmans or Tops smelt are not legal. They have to be packaged and perserved in means other than freezing (ie salted) by a COMMERCIAL bait dealer. It sucks. VHS has come and gone and we are still left with these laws. Like Cheers says, Mitchels has some good dead bait. I still have 15 dozen left to get me through winter.