Is Corn "Death to Fish"?? Please post what you know...

[GummyMonster]

This topic was brought up recently, so I dragged up this. Good info on here.
I have read that a lot of our american neighbors chum big time (when legal). I have read where 5 + GALLONS of corn, rice, oats etc is dumped down a hole in some deeper lakes to attract and hold fish in an area . They say some of these bays literally smell like corn chowder after the ice goes out.
It's used for a variety of fish and you would think such widespread use would kill every corn eating fish in the water if it was real harmful.
I have found no solid info on this yet(didn't look that hard though).
My thought would be that a few pieces as bait wouldn't be too harmful.
Good luck with whatever bait you use,
Ken

[GummyMonster]

Found this answer - http://www.fish.state.pa.us/images/p.../corn_chum.htm

Ken

[WayneChristie]

since its illegal to chum here, the few niblets that you would be using arent enough to do any harm anyways. and even if the trout steals it off your hook, they would likely spit it out anyways. Ive seen fake corn by Gulp Im pretty sure, probably work even better and not controversial. I find their maggots work great for perch and trout in the same waters.

[Fisherpeak]

Chicken skin!Best bait ever.

[nevercatchmuch]

I'm quite sure pieces of rubber jig, and power bait which is made of who knows what (not for human consumption lol) aren't so great for the fish either.

Seems to me if you want to practice catch and release, you can increase the chances by staying away from bait and using artificial flies.

[chad66]

Originally Posted by ldf7

I keep hearing that corn is "bad" for trout and other fish, but I don't know the facts from the wives tales. I'd like to know what is really true. Please post your thoughts... I have used corn in the past to catch rainbows, but I want to figure out if I am killing the fish I release? Thx in advance!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wood1
Another myth. Corn is hard for trout to digest, hard for humans to digest also. Hatcheries have studied this, and no mortalities were observed. Growth rates were shown to be about 50% lower vs trout fed pellets. It is not harmful to the fish. For those that will call B.S, look it up on the net or I can post the studies and results. I have also "heard" that porcupines throw their quills and wolves regularly chase people down and eat them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chad66

I concur. I attended the Fresh Water Fisheries Conference in Saskatoon, I believe it was 1988. One of the scientific papers presented at the conference tested the theory that corn was harmful to Rainbow Trout. (Salmo gairdeneri now classified as Oncorhynchus mykiss ). The study took place in a hatchery and it was found that corn did not adversely affect the health of the trout.

If memory serves me correctly, the control group was fed pellets only, and the test group was fed corn only. There was no significant difference in mortality rates, though corn fed fish were slightly smaller. One would expect this as the pellets provided a more nutritionally balanced food source compared to corn.

[jpietrzak1979]

Hint: if it was death to fish it would not be a listed acceptable bait in the regs.