Bonito Carcasses for Lobster Bait

November 25, 2010

Question:Is it legal to use bonito carcasses for lobster bait? Since bonito have a size limit, the fish carcasses cannot be measured and so there’s no way for DFG to know how many or how large the fish actually is. Is there some way to legally use these carcasses to bait our lobster hoop nets? (Inquiring Minds)

Answer: You can take/have up to five undersized bonito in possession. When fishing from a boat with bonito for bait, use no more than five bonito for the maximum of 10 hoop nets allowed on a vessel (assuming there is more than one lobster fisherman). Use half of a bonito for each hoop net, and keep each half whole. That way the game warden can count how many you have total by inspecting each net. If there are less than five bonito, there is no need to worry about the size.