silverwood bait questions, shad and crayfish

[Tubbytuba]

i found my grandfather's minnow traps in his garage last week. i remember him using them to catch shad, they usually died in the trap but that was ok because they were used as catfish bait. he also used the traps to catch crayfish during the summer, which we would eat, and use for bait (we used their tails, and we never transported them in a live condition to other lakes.)

last time we used them was, well i cant even remember how old i was haha, but i wanted to use them again, so i scoured the regs. in the southern district of California it seems legal to use traps that are less than 3 feet in any dimension to capture shad, and they may be used as live bait at the location where caught. i figured that. and dead ones can be used pretty much anywhere, which is what i really want to know about.

4.10. BAIT FISH USE IN THE SOUTHERN
DISTRICT.
Except as provided below, live or dead fin fish shall
not be used or possessed for use as bait in the
Southern District:
(a) Dead threadfin shad and live or dead longjaw
mudsucker may be used in all Southern District
waters.
(b) Live threadfin shad may be used only at the
location where taken.
(c) Golden shiner and red shiner may be used in
San Diego County.

but i found a California parks article for silverwood lake that does not mention the use of traps, it talks of nets. and this doesn't seem to be uncommon as i have heard that traps are illegal all over the place from various people. but i have also heard corn is illegal too and that certainly isn't true haha.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/650/files/FishingRegulations2PagesMay2010.pdf

"Live threadfin shad may be taken by hand or with a
handheld dip net to be used as bait at Silverwood only. No
live fish may be brought to Silverwood for use as bait. No
trout may be possessed in a live condition on any boat.

Legally acquired and possessed invertebrates, mollusks,
crustaceans, amphibians (except salamanders), fish eggs
and treated processed foods may be used as bait. Dead
ocean fish may be used as bait."

this seems to be contradictory, and i cant find one from any year other than 2010. if the law is correct than i should be allowed to use shad i captured with a trap a silverwood and use them dead any other place i wish to.

on to my crayfish question. the regs state i can capture crayfish with a trap, and nowhere in the regs does it say i cant take my crayfish home, eat some, and freeze some of their tails for use as bait some other time at any lake i wish. also, nowhere in the bait section can i find any language that says i cant use them in live condition. the only mention is in the pit river.

5.35. CRAYFISH.
(a) Open season: All year, except for closures listed
in subsection (d) of this Section.
(b) Limit: No limit.
(c) Methods of take:Crayfish may be taken only by
hand, hook and line, dip net or with traps not over
three feet in greatest dimension. Any other species
taken shall be returned to the water immediately.
Traps need not be closely attended.
(d) Closures for Protection of Shasta Crayfish: Fall
River upstream of Spring Creek Bridge, Lava Creek,
Tule River and all connected waters upstream of
Little Tule River, Sucker Springs Creek, Crystal Lake,
Rising River and Rising River Lake are closed to take
and possession of crayfish. (See Section 4.30 for
prohibition against crayfish use for bait in sections
of the Pit River).

i have been warned not to transport crayfish in live condition to another lake, but i cant find anything that makes such a thing illegal. so am i allowed to catch crayfish say at lake gregory, and take them down to silverwood an hour later and use their tails as catfish bait? what about in live condition? what about in so cal waters as a whole? sorry for the length of this post i wanted to show that i did some leg work. thanks for reading.

Good Hunting

[RTG]

First, Silverwood just used the DFW regs, and applied it to the park. There are no special regs for them. That being said, you can transport crayfish. Under CCR, T14, 1.87, it says you cannot transport live "finfish". Crayfish are not finfish. They are legal to use dead or alive for bait. You can use unattended traps (not over 3 feet in greatest dimension) to obtain crayfish and/ or shad. The problem with trapping shad at Silverwood is that there really aren't any in the lake. The baitfish that are present are Inland Silversides-which are not legal for use as bait. BTW-did you catch where the Silverwood "regs" said there is no limit on bluegill? I think we all know it is 25 per day. I hope you found this info helpful.

[seal]

First, Silverwood just used the DFW regs, and applied it to the park. There are no special regs for them. That being said, you can transport crayfish. Under CCR, T14, 1.87, it says you cannot transport live "finfish". Crayfish are not finfish. They are legal to use dead or alive for bait. You can use unattended traps (not over 3 feet in greatest dimension) to obtain crayfish and/ or shad. The problem with trapping shad at Silverwood is that there really aren't any in the lake. The baitfish that are present are Inland Silversides-which are not legal for use as bait. BTW-did you catch where the Silverwood "regs" said there is no limit on bluegill? I think we all know it is 25 per day. I hope you found this info helpful.

Ok I think Skyler was the last one to claim the death of all shad at Silverwood. Not true they have been on a rebound last couple years, I saw massive schools of them last year, yea positive they were shad I've seen a gazillion silversides out there. There were many down years (went about 4-5 years) but they are back, or were back as of last year I haven't spent much time in open water lately so not sure of this years crop.

[RTG]

Ok I think Skyler was the last one to claim the death of all shad at Silverwood. Not true they have been on a rebound last couple years, I saw massive schools of them last year, yea positive they were shad I've seen a gazillion silversides out there. There were many down years (went about 4-5 years) but they are back, or were back as of last year I haven't spent much time in open water lately so not sure of this years crop.
I'm not saying they are completely gone from the lake, but I'm there 2-3 a week, all spring and summer. Haven't seen one in years. As a matter of fact, the last shad I saw in the lake was an American Shad. 'Bout 12 inches long. I took a picture of it, because Kwin the biologist didn't believe me. You never know what will come down the aqueduct.

[Tubbytuba]

thank you very much everybody, i had no idea that shad were on the decline at silverwood, i know they are supposed to be in all of the aqueduct connected lakes. wonder why they had a rough couple of years? any ways thanks for the clarification, i feel a lot better. i did catch that bluegill line, thought it was weird. i remember the guys at the gate handing out pamphlets last year that said the same thing and wondered why they had made the mistake.

does a crayfish pot count as one of rods? meaning on a two rod licence could i soak a rig nearby or do i have to pick one or the other.

Good Hunting

[seal]

I'm not saying they are completely gone from the lake, but I'm there 2-3 a week, all spring and summer. Haven't seen one in years. As a matter of fact, the last shad I saw in the lake was an American Shad. 'Bout 12 inches long. I took a picture of it, because Kwin the biologist didn't believe me. You never know what will come down the aqueduct.

We've probably run into each other if I'm not fishing I'm still there about everyday. The shad schools I was seeing, and they were substantial, were in the back around the twin coves area all the way up the shoreline past Quiet cove. They were just your everyday shad to me and were in the 3" range. Yes the stripers are LMB's were aware of their presence also!

I hate to say this but Kwin really doesn't know everything about the lake. I've said it before but those of us that are there have a pretty good gauge of what is going on in the lake that includes some rangers that don't necessarily agree with the current trout stocking habits of the hatchery, but nobody seems to want to listen so we'll just continue to let the trout get slaughtered over by the marina no need to move the stocks around let Mr. Stripey and the LMB's know where they'll always be dumped. Not to mention the lack of good shore fishing over there for the bait and wait trout fisherman.

[Tubbytuba]

I've said it before but those of us that are there have a pretty good gauge of what is going on in the lake that includes some rangers that don't necessarily agree with the current trout stocking habits of the hatchery, but nobody seems to want to listen so we'll just continue to let the trout get slaughtered over by the marina no need to move the stocks around let Mr. Stripey and the LMB's know where they'll always be dumped. Not to mention the lack of good shore fishing over there for the bait and wait trout fisherman.

ive said this a few times as well, i dont really object to the big jailbirds and lmbs that result from said idiocy, but its a total waste of trout. id rather they stop stocking it again. from what i recall of last year and two years ago the trout were occasionally stocked in millers canyon (cant remember if that's the correct place or not, point is they mixed it up) and i nailed a a 2 pound hold over before the first trout stock of the fall in 2012. pink meat, full tail, pulled a little drag... didn't know that was a possibility for the lake before then.

Good Hunting

[seal]

ive said this a few times as well, i dont really object to the big jailbirds and lmbs that result from said idiocy, but its a total waste of trout. id rather they stop stocking it again. from what i recall of last year and two years ago the trout were occasionally stocked in millers canyon (cant remember if that's the correct place or not, point is they mixed it up) and i nailed a a 2 pound hold over before the first trout stock of the fall in 2012. pink meat, full tail, pulled a little drag... didn't know that was a possibility for the lake before then.

Good Hunting

The last 2 years they stopped stocking Cleghorn and I have not seen them do the Miller canyon lake stocking. Oh they still toss a load in at that top pool by the fire camp but they don't move the plants around like they have in the past down in Miller. They use to dump some in the creek then go down to the lake and dump where the creek enters the lake. There is good structure and cover there so the trout have an opportunity to survive and acclimate before moving out, stripers and LMB's don't get as big of a chunk of the plant. Also the same holds true for Cleghorn, the fish were not as vulnerable as they are when planted at the Marina, this created 2 areas where nice stripers could be targeted after plants also, it was a win win.

I've tried to inform the powers that be but it falls on deaf ears it seems. I won't get into it but I just don't get why it's important to move plants around at DVL but it is not anymore necessary at Silverwood.

Years gone by I have gotten into incredible fly fishing down in Miller on larger holdover trout, that bite has been dead or near dead for about 2 years, coincidence?