Bait Regulations

December 15, 2022

Question: Is it legal to catch sunfish and use them as live bait for bigger fish? What kind of live bait can you use in freshwater?

Answer: These are seemingly simple questions, but the answers are a bit complex because they depend on several factors including the California sport fishing district where you will be fishing, the body of water where you plan to fish and the species of live bait you intend to use. The applicable regulations can be found in California Code of Regulations, Title 14, sections 4.10-4.30. You can find these in the California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations booklet, which is available for download. On the last page of the booklet there’s a map of the seven California sport fishing districts. Each sport fishing district will have its own additional regulations on what kind of live bait is allowed, along with water-specific, area-specific and bait-specific regulations. There are variables between districts to authorize or prohibit movement of live fish from the location where captured. For example, in the Valley Sport Fishing District, which covers all or parts of 25 counties in the middle part of the state, live or dead fin fish (which includes sunfish) generally cannot be used as bait (California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 4.20). However, there are exceptions to the general prohibition and certain waters where live fin fish are lawfully caught can be used for live bait in the waters where they were caught (CCR Title 14, section 4.20(a)-(f)). By contrast, in the Southern Sport Fishing District, which covers all or part of seven Southern California counties, sunfish may never be used as live bait, though some other fish species may be used (CCR Title 14, section 4.10). The bottom line: It’s imperative to check the bait fish use regulations in the sport fishing district where you plan to fish before using any live bait.

This seems overly-complicated. Unless there is a restriction on live bait, in general, what is the rationale for not allowing the use of sunfish caught in the same body of water?

Maybe there is a DFG warden that can be emailed to ask for clarification.  In SE Florida, The Wardens are sometimes at boat shows, and at the booth, an email can usually be obtained for questions like that.  In one incident a fellow kayaker was met by a game warden that wanted to write him up for having too many Blackfin Tuna in his youtube video.  The warden was not enforcing the rule correctly, as a kayak is a vessel and the vessel amount allowed was greater than the per-person regulation.  We were able to clear it up by showing the warden a copy of our email correspondence from other wardens.

Maybe there is a DFG warden that can be emailed to ask for clarification.  In SE Florida, The Wardens are sometimes at boat shows, and at the booth, an email can usually be obtained for questions like that.  In one incident a fellow kayaker was met by a game warden that wanted to write him up for having too many Blackfin Tuna in his youtube video.  The warden was not enforcing the rule correctly, as a kayak is a vessel and the vessel amount allowed was greater than the per-person regulation.  We were able to clear it up by showing the warden a copy of our email correspondence from other wardens.

I like your posts from a FL standpoint...keep on and I hope you are slaying often.

Maybe there is a DFG warden that can be emailed to ask for clarification.  In SE Florida, The Wardens are sometimes at boat shows, and at the booth, an email can usually be obtained for questions like that.  In one incident a fellow kayaker was met by a game warden that wanted to write him up for having too many Blackfin Tuna in his youtube video.  The warden was not enforcing the rule correctly, as a kayak is a vessel and the vessel amount allowed was greater than the per-person regulation.  We were able to clear it up by showing the warden a copy of our email correspondence from other wardens.

I like your posts from a FL standpoint...keep on and I hope you are slaying often.

Ditto that! It's always good to get another perspective on things...