Live Bait in Kern County
I've been reading up on using live bait lately, it looked pretty interesting so I really wanted to try it. I bought some minnows from a new bait shop on Buck Owens Blvd, and went to hart park. With no weight and a just barely larger than a salmon egg size hook, I hooked them through the bottom lip, through to the top lip and let them drift into this small underwater tunnel thing. I caught a bunch of small bass, hooked one crappie, and watched a trout think long and hard but never took it. Soooo anyways at that moment my buddy called and coincidentally, he was fishing at his spot using live bluegill. So I wanted to read into the legality of this:
4.20. BAIT FISH USE IN THE VALLEY AND SOUTH CENTRAL DISTRICTS. Except as provided below, live or dead fin fish shall not be used or possessed for use as bait in the Valley or South Central District:
(a) Live or dead golden shiner, fathead minnow, mosquitofish, longjaw mudsucker, and staghorn sculpin, and dead threadfin shad, Mississippi silverside and lamprey may be used in all Valley and South Central District waters except those listed in subsection (f) below. (b) Red shiner may be used only in the Valley District north of Interstate 580 and Highway 132. (c) Yellowfin gobies may be used in the Valley District only in those areas described in subsections (d)(1)-(3) below. (d) In addition, except for trout and salmon, fin fish lawfully taken in the following waters by angling or with bait fish methods approved in Section 4.05 may be used only in the waters where taken: (1) Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay and their tributaries and saltwater tributaries. (2) Sacramento River and tidewater of tributaries downstream from the Highway 32 bridge near Hamilton City, Feather River downstream from the Oroville Hatchery Fish Barrier Dam, and American River downstream from Nimbus Dam. (3) San Joaquin River and tidewater of tributaries downstream from Interstate 5 bridge.
(e) Live threadfin shad, Mississippi silverside and lamprey may be used only at the location where taken. (f) Fin fish may not be used in Keller Lake (Glenn Co.), Letts Lake (Colusa Co.), Merced Lake (San Francisco Co.), Upper and Lower Plaskett Meadow Ponds (Glenn Co.), Whale Rock Reservoir (San Luis Obispo Co.).
Nothing about bluegill is said. I was wondering if any of you folks could help me clarify. And also if it is legal, I would love if I could hear some rigging methods. I got a bluegill hotspot that would make locating and using them easy. Thx FNN.
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Originally Posted by seal
