Ask a Conservation Officer:

[Lee Borgersen]

  Ask a Conservation Officer:

                   Sunfish as bait? Nope 

Q: My friend caught a small sunfish and decided to re-hook it to his line and use it to catch larger fish. Is that OK?

A: Not in Minnesota. Minnesota law prohibits the use of game fish or parts of game fish as bait, along with carp or goldfish.

If you choose, licensed anglers may catch their own minnows to use as bait, so long as the bait is not taken from infested waters. Trapping minnows in a designated trout water requires a permit from DNR Fisheries.

Don't forget that it is unlawful to transport water from your minnow bucket when you get done fishing for the day. If you choose to keep your leftover minnows for another day, you will need to bring fresh water from home to exchange with the water in your bait bucket before you leave the boat access. For more information, see pages 29-31 of the 2017 Minnesota Fishing Regulation synopsis book.

 
Matthew S. Miller is a Minnesota Department of Natural Resources conservation officer with the Lake Superior Marine Unit.

[Lee Borgersen]

What would be da reasoning behind MN. DNR classifying pan fish as a game fish
I understand they can't be used as bait and so be it.

In WI they are classified as pan fish. They can be used as bait as long as they are caught in the same lake your using them in. They must also be counted as part of your daily bag limit.

Is it just me or does it seem strange. I always considered game fish as bass,pike,walleye,northern, musky trout etc.

[glenn57]

its just you!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rebel SS]

Nope, I agree with Lee. I always thought that was one of the dumbest laws on the books....

[Lee Borgersen]

its just you!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey Glenn,

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[glenn57]

Nope, I agree with Lee. I always thought that was one of the dumbest laws on the books....

I don't!!!!! I don't agree you should be able to use sunfish crappies or perch as bait for bigger fish!!!!!! why shouldn't they be called game fish??? walleyes are!!!!!!!

[Lee Borgersen]

Nope, I agree with Lee. I always thought that was one of the dumbest laws on the books....

I don't!!!!! I don't agree you should be able to use sunfish crappies or perch as bait for bigger fish!!!!!! why shouldn't they be called game fish??? walleyes are!!!!!!!

You wouldn't even know what a walleye looks like!!    "So, they say"

[LPS]

I probably already told you this but here goes.  As kids maybe 12 years old we used to have our mothers drop us off at the sand pits south of town.  We would buy a couple of dozen crappie minnows and catch blue gills and sunfish.  A bass was a big bonus to us.  We would spend all afternoon there.  Well we ran out of bait once so I started using the guts out of the sunnies for bait.  Worked great.  A Game Warden drove by and stopped to talk to us and I told him how clever we were for using the fish guts for bait.  He said you can't do that.  I said sure we can it works great.  Then I caught another sunny doing it and said, see it works great.  I said we are going to throw the guts away anyway so why can't we use them for bait since we ran out of minnows?  He got in his car and drove away.      It was a positive experience and then our Dad's explained the law to us that night.  We still didn't understand as we kept the meat and only used the guts which we threw away. 

[Rebel SS]

Nope, I agree with Lee. I always thought that was one of the dumbest laws on the books....

I don't!!!!! I don't agree you should be able to use sunfish crappies or perch as bait for bigger fish!!!!!! why shouldn't they be called game fish??? walleyes are!!!!!!!

So, a minnow is what? Bait fish? That's profiling!!!!          

[Lee Borgersen]

I probably already told you this but here goes.  As kids maybe 12 years old we used to have our mothers drop us off at the sand pits south of town.  We would buy a couple of dozen crappie minnows and catch blue gills and sunfish.  A bass was a big bonus to us.  We would spend all afternoon there.  Well we ran out of bait once so I started using the guts out of the sunnies for bait.  Worked great.  A Game Warden drove by and stopped to talk to us and I told him how clever we were for using the fish guts for bait.  He said you can't do that.  I said sure we can it works great.  Then I caught another sunny doing it and said, see it works great.  I said we are going to throw the guts away anyway so why can't we use them for bait since we ran out of minnows?  He got in his car and drove away.      It was a positive experience and then our Dad's explained the law to us that night.  We still didn't understand as we kept the meat and only used the guts which we threw away.

Thanks for sharing   Your vivid description made me feel like I was there!

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[glenn57]

Nope, I agree with Lee. I always thought that was one of the dumbest laws on the books....

I don't!!!!! I don't agree you should be able to use sunfish crappies or perch as bait for bigger fish!!!!!! why shouldn't they be called game fish??? walleyes are!!!!!!!

You wouldn't even know what a walleye looks like!!    "So, they say"

sure I do!!!!!! there the fish wit da long whiskers....right!!!!!!!!!!