Berkley Power bait

Are the plastics that Berkley makes considered Bait in places where there are bait restrictions?

are you talking about Berkley Gulps?   I don't know about regulation, but I love them in salt!

I was thinking of the fake egg clusters to use in rivers that have bait restrictions aver the end of this month.

I'm pretty sure they are.  Back in my teenage years, I was using powerbait (the dough) in a section of the Stanislaus that was artificials, barbless, blah, blah, and a DFG Warden rolled up on us and told us it was a no-no.  He was cool and just gave us a warning.

Hope this helps!

Michael

It would be interesting to see how DFG defines "bait". To me bait is something a fish could consume, so the powerbait dough, real worms, minnows would be bait. On the other hand, plastics are not consumable and would not be bait so berkeley gulp plastics would not be considered bait. What's the difference between a salmon egg fly with scent applied and a powerbait plastic egg?

Scott

Thats what I was thinking Scott. The last time I fished the Mattole where there is never any bait allowed I saw some guys get checked by a warden and they were using a paste they made out of Roe coating their Hot Shots with it the Warden had that look on his face but let them go. I probably won't try it I was just looking at a pack of the rubber clusters and it says POWER BAIT right on the front it would be sorta hard to defend. Although Swimbaits are legal 

When I was fishing the metolius up in oregon a few years back, the regs included all soft plastics as a no no... not sure about that here... califonia uses the wording "artificial lures only" in waterways where bait is not allowed... it doesnt say "no bait".  I think plastics are easy to defend as artificial... this one is iffy.

4.00. Bait-General.
Legally acquired and possessed invertebrates,
mollusks, crustaceans, amphibians (except
salamanders), fish eggs and treated and
processed foods may be used for bait,

Gulp may be treated, and processed, but is it food?  its like soft rubber right....?

"It's People It's People" oops sorry wrong thread   

soylent green... LOL.  took me a few times reading my post to figure out what you meant... funny stuff

I'm pretty sure they are.  Back in my teenage years, I was using powerbait (the dough) in a section of the Stanislaus that was artificials, barbless, blah, blah, and a DFG Warden rolled up on us and told us it was a no-no.  He was cool and just gave us a warning.

Hope this helps!

Michael

I think powerbait dough for trout is very different from regular plastic powerbait.

GULP is a good question tho.

John

I think powerbait dough for trout is very different from regular plastic powerbait.

Why, how?

Michael

I think powerbait dough for trout is very different from regular plastic powerbait.

Why, how?

Michael

berkley plastic "powerbait" is no different than any other plastic artificial. when they say 'artificial only', they do not rule out plastics, including berkeley "powerbait". powerbait is a marketing term that is not ideal for cases of separating artificial lures from baits. yeah, it supposedly has some scent in it. but that's no different than putting scent on your spinner or rapala.

powerbait dough is marginally a food and the trout swallow it deep. you can't 'release' after catching on powerbait dough. same for catfish baits.

powerbait dough and plastic lures labeled "powerbait" dough are two very different compounds.

gulp is some sort of bio-compound. it is not plastic.

plastics do kill fish since they can't be digested and they do end up swallowed. But the idea is that you lip hook them, not gut hook them.

John

you can't 'release' after catching on powerbait dough...

I'd say this is a bit of a generalization. I've caught and released plenty of healthy trout (hooked in the side of the mouth) on power bait. You just have to be quick on the hookset. It's not my go to bait when I'm planning on C & R but can be done if you are careful.

-FF

From the general provisions of the inland fishing regs...

1.11. Artificial Lure.
An artificial lure is a man-made lure or fly
designed to attract fish. This definition does not
include scented or flavored artificial baits.

My interpretation is that anything enhanced with flavor (like those Berkeley gulps or even adding scent to a plug) would be considered bait and not an artificial lure.