Bait in the Fraser river

[Fishslayer99]

A question to those that have fished the (non tidal) "upper sections of the Fraser river"
I am talking North of Hope and even North of Lytton area, closer to Lillooet. Section 3 in the BC regs.

I was under the impression you could use basically anything for bait. (Salmon parts/eels/baitfish/worms/stink bait/roe.) I was speaking with someone from a sports shop in that area and he said there are no finfish allowed for bait? No salmon parts (gills/belly/heart) and im assuming this means Herring or other baitfish as well. I cannot find anything in the regulations that states this and hope someone can clarify this for me, as I will be out there in two weeks and want to make sure I am fully prepared.

Thanks in advance for any information!

[Northern Yaker]

On our guided sturgeon trip the guide was using gills from the salmon we had caught when it was time to set up for sturgeon. I don't believe they fall under finfish.
Also used finfish(squawfish,chubs)you just can't use a whole fish, so heads were removed before dropping the bait down.

Pg9 of BC regs. Clarifies.

[Fishslayer99]

Thanks for the advice northern yaker. The thing is that on the regular BC regulations, there is a section that says " if you are fishing for fish other than salmon in non tidal waters this regulation book is not for you"

there is then a link that takes you to a page where you can select the region you are fishing (region 3) in my case. There is nothing regarding bait restrictions on that regions regulations (8 pages)

I am very confused and I know there are different regs for the tidal section, that section goes from the mouth (ocean) up to the Mission bridge I believe. The section I will be fishing is way upriver from there. Still more questions than answers...were you fishing the lower tidal section with your guides when you were using the salmon parts for bait?

[Northern Yaker]

We were fishing the non tidal portion around Chilliwack.
The way I understand it, the fresh water regs don't cover salmon retention, but if your fishing in freshwater for any species salmon, trout, bass all the bait restrictions and rules apply.

[Mitchthefisher]

Try lampreys, salmon eggs, and rotten salmon for the sturgeon, thats what my buddy uses, not sure about the zones though.

[sturgeonhound]

Fishslayer,
You can only use fin fish and parts of fin fish in region 2 of the fraser. The area you mentioned up by Lillooet is in region 3. In region 3 you cannot use parts of or fin fish. The only thing you can use of a fin fish is roe. That means in region 3 you can't use salmon or salmon parts, pike minnows, eulichans, herring, lamprey, etc. as they are all considered fin fish. Pretty much the only thing you can use in region 2 is roe, worms, shrimp, crusteceans and a few other types of things. Its on page 9 of the general provincial regulations in the definition of "fin fish".
Cheers,
SH

[Fishslayer99]

Fishslayer,
You can only use fin fish and parts of fin fish in region 2 of the fraser. The area you mentioned up by Lillooet is in region 3. In region 3 you cannot use parts of or fin fish. The only thing you can use of a fin fish is roe. That means in region 3 you can't use salmon or salmon parts, pike minnows, eulichans, herring, lamprey, etc. as they are all considered fin fish. Pretty much the only thing you can use in region 2 is roe, worms, shrimp, crusteceans and a few other types of things. Its on page 9 of the general provincial regulations in the definition of "fin fish".
Cheers,
SH

Thank you Mr sturgeonhound!!! That is almost exactly what the local I was speaking with said, but you went into much more detail. That makes sence to me, I just went over page 9 regarding definitions of bait, I was just confused on the different regions. Thank you for your help and thanks everyone for the replies!