Could Live Bait Fishing Be BANNED? Here’s What Anglers Need to Know.
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Tips, Salt Strong Podcast
When I first saw this, I honestly thought it was a joke.
It is not.
There is a real, organized effort underway to restrict live bait fishing, and the idea has gained real attention and traction in a few places.
This has everything to do with anglers staying informed before something that sounds harmless on the surface gains real momentum.
Watch as Luke and I break down the full report and why it matters to anglers.
Check Out The Full Report Here
Key Takeaways
- This is not about fish feeling pain. That argument failed. This is about reframing live bait as an invasive species issue.
- While most efforts have been voted down, the idea has gained enough traction to warrant attention.
- The messaging sounds reasonable on the surface, which is exactly why it is effective.
- If this approach works in freshwater, saltwater will not be far behind.
- Once these ideas gain momentum, stopping them becomes much harder.
Final Thoughts
This is not about live bait versus lures. It is about anglers staying informed and paying attention before decisions are made without us at the table.
The fishing community only keeps its voice if it stays engaged, educated, and growing. That starts with understanding what is happening, even when it sounds too ridiculous to be real.
We will keep tracking this and sharing updates as we learn more.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
The 2 core benefits we promise to Insider Club members is to be able to find and catch fish easier than ever before while saving money on fishing equipment.
So I am including links to the quickest ways to achieve each:
1) Finding Fish System
2) Insider Club’s Group Discounts
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Thanks for the ‘head’s up’ on something that could potentially impact our fishing Joe and Luke!
This has been the rule in WA for decades. About the only live baits you can use in freshwater is worms, crawdads and periwinkle. The only one you can buy live is worms.
In saltwater you can buy live anchovies and herring and that’s pretty much it. You can catch and use other baits in salt but it’s pretty limited.
If groups like this have their way all we will be able to do is sit and watch the grass grow. We as anglers need to be smart. If using live bait just get what we need like Joe and Luke mentioned. Don’t put everything we catch into the cooler. Practice catch and release. We can take pictures of what we catch for the memories. Take our trash back with us. Any bad practices that we do will always give the crazies the ammo that they need. Live bait is a great way for kids to catch fish and let them to enjoy themselves on the water. Let’s not ruin it by giving the crazies what they need.
Great info. We must stay vigilant thanks
I fished Tampa bay for 40 years from1972 to 2012 and i have noticed a disturbing difference in the latter years. When fishing the shallow troughs adjacent to mangroves the amount of cormorants,stingrays and porpoises around and under the boat is ridiculous. I attribute this enormous increase in scavenging activity around the boat to the method of live well full of green backs taking a net full and putting them in a wiffle ball bat with the end cut off shaking vigorously to disorient the green backs and slinging them towards the mangroves. This creates a feeding frenzy of snook and redfish that otherwise would be inactive. I don’t for see this activity being curbed because a large percentage of guides would be out of business because there’s no way their clients could cast a lure close to the mangroves without getting hung up and in my experience when you can see snook basking in the sun they are usually not interested in anything to eat unless you can have some disoriented greenbacks circling over them.
These people attack every freedom from every angle & they are relentless.
These people have no idea what fishing is about and how we as fisherman contribute to the local economy
I know when I go out and I’m taking live bait. I’m usually taking that because I have kids on the boat and the action seems to be a little faster.. But when everybody decides to call it a day the first thing I do always as I go and empty my bait well of anything alive shrimp maybe mudminnows. And everything that’s alive. I let it go and I’ve done that for probably 30 years. I don’t ever drive into the dock and have a bait well full of full of live bait. I always empty it before I start heading in.
Thanks
Who’s the idiot that started this BS? I think FWC and other DNR Agencies have enough on their plate. Will there be self appointed morons that will try to stop it? Wouldn’t they need to be out on the water? Morons!!!!!!!!!!
Birds transport eggs all over the place. Wonder if they’ll target birds……