bait question

[bryanfewchuk]

Was on lake sundance yesterday and caught 40 small perch. They have a zero release on perch there.. Just wondering what i can do with them. Thinking pike bait. Is that legal in lakes with no bait ban?. First time fishing there. Was surprised how big the average rainbow is in there. 18"- 20". All day

[ineptflux]

Perch are considered a sport fish, therefore it's illegal to use them as bait.

excerpt from page 28 of regulations:
Only the skin, fins, eyes and dead eggs of game fish may be used as bait, provided these fish were lawfully caught by angling. Skin, fins, eyes and dead eggs of game fish may be used where the use of bait fish is prohibited, but cannot be used where bait bans are in effect. All game fish kept must be counted in the daily catch limit, including any fish from which parts are used for bait.

[EZM]

I'm guessing they want to control (or try and get rid of the perch) there.

If they are too small to make it worthwhile to clean and eat ...... I'm at a loss as to what to do with them since it would be illegal to use as bait.

I'm sure there are uses for them (garden for fertilizer, etc...).

[Geezle]

I'm guessing they want to control (or try and get rid of the perch) there.

If they are too small to make it worthwhile to clean and eat ...... I'm at a loss as to what to do with them since it would be illegal to use as bait.

I'm sure there are uses for them (garden for fertilizer, etc...).

Yep, if they're too small to bother eating till them into your garden

[mapleleafman3]

X2 on the garden

I think they need to stock some esox or eyes to eat up all the perch. A natural predator would help to naturally control the perch and make some fat esox or eyes.

[Kim473]

Skin and pickle them. Soup. Just a couple sugestions.

[dodgeboy1979]

just give them to an animal rescue society or a zoo for animal feed.

[Fishslayer99]

You can give them to me, I have some fish in my aquarium that would be grateful.:thinking-006:

[Red Bullets]

A nice homemade fish broth. There would be some meat from even little perch.
Jar and seal when hot. Then keep and use when you make chowders.

[bunnyhunter]

I sometimes use the entire skin and fins, tail attached,minus the head (-using the banana peel perch cleaning method-) -as Pike bait! it worked wonders at Wab. you need to make it hang as horizontal as you can. Seemed to work great!. or jig large peices of the perches colorful skin with a fin attached for action seemed to work great too.

from the regs : Only the skin, fins, eyes and dead eggs of game fish may be used as bait

last time I went to a perch cull of tiny fish, I made pickled fish,,,,but then I like picked herrings:character0175:

aaaaaand easy peel perch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjTlFwQb7D0

[spinN'flyfish]

X2 on broth and garden

[huntsfurfish]

Wow! This thread is great!

No attacks on the OP about regs or such.

Really nice to see.

Hope I didnt jinx things.

[bryanfewchuk]

Thanks for the reply's guys. Guess ill give them to my grandma for her garden

[Red Bullets]

Thanks for the reply's guys. Guess ill give them to my grandma for her garden

Look up some asian recipes. Asian culture uses all sorts of small fish in their recipes.

Might be better to save the fins and skin for bait.

If you want to be creative.... put the perch in a glass jar, put the lid on and poke one small hole in the lid. Put the jar in a sunny location for a year.
after a year there will be an amber oil on top of the decomposed fish. Skim off this oil and use it for furbearers, coyotes or fish lure. The rest of the decomposed fish you can add to your compost pile.
Put a drop of the amber oil on your fish bait or hook. Use in conjunction with electronic coyote calls as a smell lure. Use for trapping lure for land animals.

[DiabeticKripple]

Look up some asian recipes. Asian culture uses all sorts of small fish in their recipes.

BTW...
I'm not trying to rock the boat or be negative or be the internet police...only just so you know for future reference.... from the regulations...

"The edible flesh of legally kept game fish must not be wasted, destroyed, spoiled or abandoned".

Even small perch are considered a game fish in Alberta. I'm just saying....it could be a legal concern. Because there was a zero release of perch on the lake could influence legalities, maybe.? :confused: Are they being wasted by using them to fertilize your soil? :thinking-006::confused:

If a person is adding fish to soil the fish should be composted first and not directly put into your garden soil. I put suckers in my garden one year under where I put my rows and I found you couldn't deep work the soil without hitting the fish. Takes longer to decompose underground. And once you have some fish fragments on the surface it can attract insects.

Might be better to save the fins and skin for bait.

If you want to be creative.... put the perch in a glass jar, put the lid on and poke one small hole in the lid. Put the jar in a sunny location for a year.
after a year there will be an amber oil on top of the decomposed fish. Skim off this oil and use it for furbearers, coyotes or fish lure. The rest of the decomposed fish you can add to your compost pile.
Put a drop of the amber oil on your fish bait or hook. Use in conjunction with electronic coyote calls as a smell lure. Use for trapping lure for land animals. But then again maybe it's illegal because you are letting game fish spoil to create the amber oil.:confused::)



Since it is a private lake, the regs have nothing to do with what you can and can't do with the fish. Essentially whatever is in the regs doesn't apply here.

[rafhone]

I can't help but think of this thread from last year when perch were found on the ice at badger after the derby.
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showthread.php?t=211829&highlight=perch+bait+badger

[huntsfurfish]

Since it is a private lake, the regs have nothing to do with what you can and can't do with the fish. Essentially whatever is in the regs doesn't apply here.

Not totally true. Still cant use as bait.:)

[cube]

Yep, if they're too small to bother eating till them into your garden

Would that be legal?

From page 25 of the regs

"Additional Restrictions:
The edible flesh of legally kept game fish must not be wasted,
destroyed, spoiled or abandoned (this does not apply to burbot)"

Just wondering what some do gooder might define as wasting, perhaps tilling into a garden.

[huntsfurfish]

Would that be legal?

From page 25 of the regs

"Additional Restrictions:
The edible flesh of legally kept game fish must not be wasted,
destroyed, spoiled or abandoned (this does not apply to burbot)"

Just wondering what some do gooder might define as wasting, perhaps tilling into a garden.

"kept" game fish might be the key words.

It is a private lake. You are free to set regs for that lake. If you or I had a dugout or private lake stocked with rainbows. Tilling would be an option, as would feeding them to the dog or cat if you choose.:) Your fish/my fish. There might be restrictions on selling though.

But using them as bait would be against regs. Because we are using our fish as bait which would still be illegal and cited in the regs. MO

[the local angler]

one thing you can do is keep the perch eyes, i hear that works really well for bait even though i have not tried it. as for the small perch itself is there any sort of bird shelter that would use them to feed like birds of prey?

[Bigwoodsman]

Would that be legal?

From page 25 of the regs

"Additional Restrictions:
The edible flesh of legally kept game fish must not be wasted,
destroyed, spoiled or abandoned (this does not apply to burbot)"

Just wondering what some do gooder might define as wasting, perhaps tilling into a garden.

Does anyone know why they exempt Burbot?

[DiabeticKripple]

Not totally true. Still cant use as bait.:)

yes you can, in sundance lake. not in a public lake.

[huntsfurfish]

yes you can, in sundance lake. not in a public lake.

Read OP again:)

oP asked about other lakes not Sundance.:)

[chriscosta]

Does anyone know why they exempt Burbot?

Cuz a burbot is not considered a gamefish in the regs ...which makes absolutely no sense to how they can put a limit on them if theyre not a gamefish ...so you can throw as many on the ice to waste as you want but you can only keep 10 for yourself...idk i scratch my head over thos cuz really ...they should be a game fish ..people do target them as game

[chriscosta]

So heres a question ...is it legal to say wrap a perch skin and fins around a herring?

[WayneChristie]

So heres a question ...is it legal to say wrap a perch skin and fins around a herring?

yup

[rafhone]

Cuz a burbot is not considered a gamefish in the regs ...which makes absolutely no sense to how they can put a limit on them if theyre not a gamefish ...so you can throw as many on the ice to waste as you want but you can only keep 10 for yourself...idk i scratch my head over thos cuz really ...they should be a game fish ..people do target them as game

I believe Burbot are considered a game fish but they just allow the wasting of that particular game fish.

here's a quote from the regs:
"l Trout and Arctic Grayling – 5 in total, combined of:
0 bull trout (native to Alberta);
2 Northern Dolly Varden (stocked in Chester Lake only);
1 golden trout;
2 Arctic grayling;
3 lake trout;
5 cutthroat trout;
5 rainbow trout;
5 brown trout;
5 brook trout.
l Mountain Whitefish – 5 in total.
l Walleye and Sauger – 3 in combined total.
l Northern Pike – 3 in total.
l Yellow Perch – 15 in total.
l Lake Whitefish and Cisco (Tullibee) – 10 in combined total.
l Goldeye and Mooneye – 10 in combined total.
l Burbot (Ling) – 10 in total.
l Lake Sturgeon – 0
l Non-game fish – no restriction on the numbers kept."

Non-game fish category is separate from Burbot.

They are also listed in the picture identification of the regs as "sport fish of Alberta".

Thought I'd point this out so no one gets a fine thinking its legal to use whole Burbot as bait.

[Wild&Free]

Cuz a burbot is not considered a gamefish in the regs ...which makes absolutely no sense to how they can put a limit on them if theyre not a gamefish ...so you can throw as many on the ice to waste as you want but you can only keep 10 for yourself...idk i scratch my head over thos cuz really ...they should be a game fish ..people do target them as game

a small reproductive age burbort will have 80-100k eggs. a mature one will have over 250k.

1% survival that's still 800-1000 fingerling burbot per spawn per fish.

[cube]

Does anyone know why they exempt Burbot?

My understanding of the situation is: In years past burbot were not considered game fish and no one would eat them, hence, they were left on the ice to die. People finally wised up to the burbots eating quality and started to target them, hence, they were put on the game fish list. However the commercial fishermen lobbied against this as there was NO market for burbot and they did not want to bother having to deal with tons of dead rotting fish. Therefore, a compromise was brought in so the fish could be protected from over sport fishing but the commercial fisherman cold still waste them.

Of course now that we no longer have commercial fishing in Alberta I cannot see why the wastage of burbot is still allowed.

[Geezle]

My understanding of the situation is: In years past burbot were not considered game fish and no one would eat them, hence, they were left on the ice to die. People finally wised up to the burbots eating quality and started to target them, hence, they were put on the game fish list. However the commercial fishermen lobbied against this as there was NO market for burbot and they did not want to bother having to deal with tons of dead rotting fish. Therefore, a compromise was brought in so the fish could be protected from over sport fishing but the commercial fisherman cold still waste them.

Of course now that we no longer have commercial fishing in Alberta I cannot see why the wastage of burbot is still allowed.

Since the commercial netting was just recently ended, perhaps that change will be reflected in the new regs.

[cube]

Since the commercial netting was just recently ended, perhaps that change will be reflected in the new regs.

Would be nice but I doubt it. If you filled out the survey etc. that was posted earlier, There were no questions about this. On the facebook page where they are asking for feed back on prospective changes this is not one of them. So I don't get the feeling that it is likely this year, but here is to hoping.

[ogre]

"kept" game fish might be the key words.

It is a private lake. You are free to set regs for that lake. If you or I had a dugout or private lake stocked with rainbows. Tilling would be an option, as would feeding them to the dog or cat if you choose.:) Your fish/my fish. There might be restrictions on selling though.

But using them as bait would be against regs. Because we are using our fish as bait which would still be illegal and cited in the regs. MO

Might be a bit late... but you could ask the gatekeepers at Lake Sundance for a "Bill of Lading" so you won't run into trouble if you are stopped between there and home. And x3 on garden compost.

yes you can, in sundance lake. not in a public lake.

DK is right that using Sundance perch as bait in sundance can be interpreted to be legal as it is a privately stocked water; but I doubt any CO will be understanding if you are checked while using perch as bait anywhere else