Abalone for bait?

Can anyone clarify the rules for using abalone, abalone guts, abalone trimmings, for bait or chum? It seems the letter of the law prevents us from transporting anything removed from the shell, which would elliminate all these as possibilities. Right?

Thanks for posting your question because I actually had thought about the use of abalone entrails. There have been many occasions where I have gutted fish (primarily cabezons) where I have found abalone entrails.

I hope that someone can chime in with their knowledge. Thanks again for your post!!

Can anyone clarify the rules for using abalone, abalone guts, abalone trimmings, for bait or chum? It seems the letter of the law prevents us from transporting anything removed from the shell, which would elliminate all these as possibilities. Right?

Dammit Ross!!!!! 

There you go making me stress about another darn rule!!

 

Just kidding bro...I would hate to get popped for doing something inadvertently illegal!!

 

I had a little burlap bag full of ab guts, sea urchin schmeg, and RF entrails that I dropped last time I was out...was hoping a cabbie would come sniffing, but all it brought in was some big ol' spider crabs!!!!

 

Some clarification would be nice before I try this again!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Excellent point - sounds like definite future potential ticket fodder.  I've fished with ab guts since I was a small child, so I predict that I will have a complete shitfit if this turns out to be an issue.

Anyone get those emails from DFG where Carrie Wilson answers questions like this?  I just emailed her with this:

Carrie:
 
     I receive your regular Q&A email, and I think you do a great job of answering sportsmen's questions and providing more than just a quick explanation.
 
     My own question has to do with using abalone "guts" for bait while fishing from the rocks.  Since the law is that abalone must only be removed from its shell for "immediate consumption", does that mean that freezing and transporting the gonad and entrails for use later while fishing is illegal?  And, if so, is it then only legal to remove fresh abalone from its shell to use the gonad and entrails for fishing?   In that last case, by the way, I would choose to also immediately eat the meat while fishing, but I think it would be a horrible display of shortsighted policy if it turns out that the only way to use ab guts for fishing is to kill an ab that day.
 
     Thank you very much for taking my question.  I look forward to your response, and I commend you for a job well done.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Eric Stockwell, Loleta, California

I'll get back on here when I get a response.  Thanks for bringing this up.

I've sent Carrie a couple questions in the last few years, none has ever made it into he column, but she always sent me an answer.

I'll look forward to this one.

Thanks for asking on our behalf Eric. It will be interesting to see what she says.

Now, what if you clean an abalone for immediate consumption, but can't complete the task? Say a sudden case of upchuckitis? Do you have to quickly hire immediate consumptioners? Must the abalones be consumed by humans? And immediate seems like a pretty severe word anyway. Is that the same immediate as in what to do when a cop pulls you over (eg right-fricken-now), or is it a different version of immediate (like yawn-yawn sometime today or this week)? All very vague. 

Great, now I have to worry about the DFG boarding my kayak to check my bait.
"Yep.....he's got ab guts.....confiscate the yak and tell him to swim in." 

I'm friends with 2 wardens.  Neither one of those guys we even consider giving you a ticket for that........if you were otherwise being a responsible angler.  I'll ask Don or Eric next time I see them. 

Maybe some warden trying to give you a hard time for some other reason, but IMO, not likely.  They do have some discretion.

I don't feel like going to jail especially if I'm OTW or having some warden heist my gear. Guess i better (not) get the baggies out of my freezer until we get clarification on this.
William_102

We were parked at a pullout along highway 1 in monterrey...or there abouts....getting ready for a dive and the dfg rolled up on us. To make a long conversation short he pretty much said they were extremely hardass on ab violations down there....I'd say if you're using them anywhere down in that zone its a guilty until proven innocent scenario...and if thats the case you're getting arrested and driven to morro for detainment.  It ain't a ticket.

I don't think you can use chum anytime, but I could be wrong

They'd never take me alive. 

Don't ask, don't tell.

I don't think you can use chum anytime, but I could be wrong

Chum is legal in the ocean as well as some inland waters - Carrie's Q&A addressed that a few weeks back on 7/15/10:

Question: If I am trying to attract fish to a spot to fish for them, can I sink some chum there? I would tie the chum to a rope that's connected to a buoy, throw it overboard and then let it soak. In a couple of hours I'd come back and first retrieve my chum, rope and buoy, and then would fish on that spot. Is there any problem with this? (Ricky Z.)

Answer: Chumming in inland waters is generally illegal, but in the following locations (CCR Title 14, Section 2.40), it is allowed:

1.  The Colorado River District, where only the approved bait fishes for the District may be used as chum (CCR Title 14, Section 4.15) except in the Salton Sea, where corn may also be used.

2.  The Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay and their tributaries and saltwater tributaries.

3.  The Sacramento River and tidewater of tributaries downstream from Interstate 80 bridge.

4.  The San Joaquin River and tidewater of tributaries downstream from Interstate 5 bridge.

Chumming is defined as placing any material in the water, other than on a hook while angling, for the purpose of attracting fish to a particular area in order that they may be taken (CCR Title 14, Section 1.32).

Chumming is not prohibited in the ocean.

....I'd say if you're using them anywhere down in that zone its a guilty until proven innocent scenario...and if thats the case you're getting arrested and driven to morro for detainment.  It ain't a ticket.

Monterey Co Jail is...in...Salinas....
This rule has been on the books forever. Heck, my family stopped going on our annual trip to Navarro after my dad got cited for transporting abs outside the shell like 16 yrs ago. We had cleaned 4 or 5 abs (way under the possession limit for 5 people btw) at the campground before leaving, and put em in ziplocks in the freezer of our trailer. Got stopped at a checkpoint and allowed the wardens to search our trailer because we didn't have anything to hide, right? My dad got busted for "transporting abalone outside the shell" and they confiscated our abs to be used at an upcoming abalone-themed fundraiser in Ft Bragg or somewhere up there....
Maybe keep the completed ab tag with the guts if you intend to use the guts for bait..? Good question Fishwrapper!