hypothetical scenario

 salmon is a game fish and all species of trout Are gamefish also. would I be able to use salmon carcasses for bait in my
Crab Pots.
 would it be ok for me to use planter trout that were freezet burned for lingcod bait ? where would one draw the line for wanton waste ?

No on trout.

What if I had reciepts for the trout? Like from Costco?

No on trout.

Not disagreeing but I couldn't find a reg that says that, is it implied somewhere or did I just miss it?

I do have some vague memory of not being able to use trout for bait, but can't find any documentation.

No on trout.

Why not?

pretty sure hojo man has covered this topic.

I'm pretty sure you can use salmon carcasses in crab traps or rings in both salt and fresh (where and how legal) water and in your crawdad traps. I don't think you can use trout as bait in crawdad traps in freshwater. I'm pretty sure you can use trout as bait in the ocean but not inland.

I looked at the regs, inland bait restriction is in §4.00 et seq and ocean bait is restricted only against tilapia §27.15. Any other legally acquired fish seems ok.

Also, "game fish" is not a meaningful term in California as far as I can tell. It is in Oregon though and the distinction there is important.

we use salmon carcasses in crab pots all the time, it's totaly legal,  I'm not sure about the trout like everyone else says,  just like using small blues for lingcod bait .

HoJo covered this in a post. As long as the trout was legally caught, it's fine.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=54080.msg609778#msg609778

Also, "game fish" is not a meaningful term in California as far as I can tell. It is in Oregon though and the distinction there is important.

As far as I know, it is kind of a big deal. I remember just this year people were freaking out about the California trying to declass stripers as game fish because it would lift regulations on their harvest, and effectively decimate their population. As far as their use as bait is concerned, I can't find anything on it either. Most randoms you ask will tell you that gamefish can't be used as bait, but most randoms you ask will also tell you to kill native squawfish in the river systems here as is the SOP in parts of Washington and Oregon, where they're invasive.

Smoked trout skins and bones make THE BEST crawfish bait. 

Also, "game fish" is not a meaningful term in California as far as I can tell. It is in Oregon though and the distinction there is important.

As far as I know, it is kind of a big deal. I remember just this year people were freaking out about the California trying to declass stripers as game fish because it would lift regulations on their harvest, and effectively decimate their population. As far as their use as bait is concerned, I can't find anything on it either. Most randoms you ask will tell you that gamefish can't be used as bait, but most randoms you ask will also tell you to kill native squawfish in the river systems here as is the SOP in parts of Washington and Oregon, where they're invasive.

The only reference to "game fish" or "gamefish" that I see that makes any sort of difference to California law, is with respect to freshwater fishing contests.  "Game fish" is a generic term to describe desirable fish to target for recreational anglers, as opposed to "trash fish" or "rough fish".  What is a game fish in one place can be a trash fish in another place.  So something's status as a "game fish", outside of the very limited scope of freshwater fishing contests, is of no legal significance in California, at least not right now.  Pikeminnow is an example of a "game fish" for freshwater fishing contest purposes that are not considered anything other than trash fish by the great majority of recreational anglers.

In Oregon, if a fish is a "game fish", you may not gaff it.  If it is not a "game fish", you may gaff it.  So you cannot gaff a striped bass, sturgeon or salmon in the ocean or in freshwater, but you may gaff rockfish, lingcod, halibut, and other non-game fish. Certainly nobody is going to consider lingcod, rockfish or halibut as "trash fish", but there is a definite definition and distinction as to game fish and non-game fish in ODFW regs.  But not so much in California.

You can use salmon and rockfish for crab bait while the season is open for each type.   Since salmon and rockfish is closed now, use chicken.  I'll check with DFW today at ISE show to verify.

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I talked to a Game Warden today.  He said it was ok to use old salmon, rockfish, or trout.  They will look at the eyes and condition of the fish to determine that it was not caught recently.

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