Halibut Bait. Is rainbow trout legal?

C

ChoveyRoller

Member
I booked some holidays to do some February halibut fishing (Dumb move… I know) when that got screwed over, my 3 year old son and I spent a few days trout fishing on our local lakes. Good times! First real fishing time with dad so it was all good!
We filled the smoker with de-boned fillets and when I was looking at the left over 12 – 13 inch carcasses of the trout I figured they look like perfect halibut bait. I bagged them in two's. Ribs still intact, greasy little bodies… seems perfect but I have heard that it is illegal to use rainbow trout as halibut bait. Is this true? I can’t find anything in the reg’s . I am sometimes challenged finding info on the DFO site, maybe I missed it? Any insight appreciated?
 
As long as you're using scraps I can't see why there'd be an issue.

Maybe if you were trying to use it as bait in a lake they'd care.

But halibut fishing isn't very good in most lakes anyway... :)
 
I don't know about the legality, but I would like to know how it works as bait. I went through a phase of catching lots of stockies in Spectacle lake, and I thought that they would make great bait on the round. I have had good luck using whole pollack, so why not whole rainbow?
 
There was stink some years ago about commercial longliners using Steelhead for bait-not sure what eventually happened probably SFA but they're not supposed to use bycatch aka shackbait anymore.
 
cut plug rainbow, why not? As far as I know there is no rule that says a harvested fish has to pass through the digestive system of a human being. As long as you're within your limit you should be fine.

There are lodges that catch salmon solely for the purpose of cutting them up for bait and DFO has no problem with that.
 
Poppa Swiss said:
cut plug rainbow, why not? As far as I know there is no rule that says a harvested fish has to pass through the digestive system of a human being. As long as you're within your limit you should be fine.

There are lodges that catch salmon solely for the purpose of cutting them up for bait and DFO has no problem with that.
Click to expand...

That's DFO, rainbow trout are regulated by the province. You might be on thin legal ice using the whole trout with

"It is unlawful to waste any fish you catch, if your fish is not suitable for eating <snip> return the fish quickly and gently to the water"

I doubt eating of whole fish by halibut is the intention there. But using the leftover carcass should be fine.

Regardless of what the actual regs might be, I would feel a little selfish if I were just going trout fishing for bait and thereby reducing the chances of a 10 year old kid to catch a trout.

Now invasive yellow perch would be a whole other matter (they do make great crab bait).. :)
 
Its legal-- but its not the bait of choice. Stick to the proven baits, squid, octopus, herring, Berkley Gulp, salmon bellies. Compost the RBT frames in the garden.
 
I take my kids to more places than the trout pond, but there's nothing like the expressions on their faces after catching a trout almost instantly - dance:. I was hoping that the hatchery trout fishing would not be considered. I do not think it is legal to use bait fish game. I'm too tired to quote the rules, but I like to try first.
 
DFO is such a joke now anyways, who cares? - just try it if you got it, and feed your family some fresh halibut!
 
ChoveyRoller said:
I booked some holidays to do some February halibut fishing (Dumb move… I know) when that got screwed over, my 3 year old son and I spent a few days trout fishing on our local lakes. Good times! First real fishing time with dad so it was all good!
We filled the smoker with de-boned fillets and when I was looking at the left over 12 – 13 inch carcasses of the trout I figured they look like perfect halibut bait. I bagged them in two's. Ribs still intact, greasy little bodies… seems perfect but I have heard that it is illegal to use rainbow trout as halibut bait. Is this true? I can’t find anything in the reg’s . I am sometimes challenged finding info on the DFO site, maybe I missed it? Any insight appreciated?
Click to expand...



Don't waste your time, Trout don't work, tried it only thing that eats them is Dogfish and Crabs!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top