BASS BARN banner

Feeder goldfish-illegal as bait?

41K views 46 replies 25 participants last post by  walleye086 
#1 ·
So I went to the pet store the other day, I happened to mention livelining feeder goldfish near the store owner and she went bonkers on me threatening to call fish and game and to have me arrested.

Of course I marched right out the door and left her in my dust....Didnt want no trouble...

But whats the deal? Yay or nay? And why the heck would it be illegal to use a goldfish for bait? I can see dumping hundreds of them in a pond being a reach because it would turn into an invasive species of sorts I think?

What the deuce!!!

And I aint asking for trouble.... Dont want to be flamed by keyboard commandos with cabin fever, its just a simple question thats all. :wave:
 
#5 ·
Yup, invasive species......heres my question, the regs more or less state that it is illegal to introduce non native species to a water way....go to any bait shop here in pa around trout season and they sell the same rosy red's you find in the pet shop for feeder fish, not sure if they are native to the waterways around s.e.pa but i have never seen one in the wild....is it ok because they are not invasive?
 
#6 ·
Illegal in NJ

The New Jersey Fish and Game Code requires that a stocking permit from the Division of Fish
and Wildlife is required for the stocking of any fish or fish eggs in all waters of the State, both
public and private, which are contiguous with the ocean.

Also, Title 23:5-30 of the revised Statutes prohibits the stocking of “any kind of carp, or the seed thereof, in any of the public or private waters of the State”.

stocking = as live bait, they could escape the hook.

carp = goldfish​
 
#9 ·
A friend and I went to this pond in Delran, and we were walking around and we saw hundreds of gold colored fish. I believe they are goldfish but i wasn't sure. I couldn't believe how many there were and how big some of them were. I tried catching them but they didnt want anything to do with the stuff i threw.
 
#10 ·
A friend and I went to this pond in Delran, and we were walking around and we saw hundreds of gold colored fish. I believe they are goldfish but i wasn't sure. I couldn't believe how many there were and how big some of them were. I tried catching them but they didnt want anything to do with the stuff i threw.
Could be them, Koi, carp, golden shiners. Were they gold or like an orange color?
 
#11 ·
Definately illegal, I was fishing at a local pond and there was a guy next to me using live bait, game warden came down and checked everyones license, well he saw these gold-fish(bout 2 dozen) and went nuts, he gave the guy a citation and said he could if he wanted to, fine him $25 for each gold fish, they can overtake a pond and ruin it.
 
#18 ·
Instead of goldfish, if you want to do something fun and also give you different kinds of bait to use, do what I do when I use live bait (very seldom unless the GF goes), get a seine permit. I know PA makes you get one to be able to catch your own bait. Go into small streams or even rivers, small streams are best, either by yourself or with another person(easier with 2 or more people with a big seine but I have small streams so can do it by myself) and catch minnows, baby carp, baby bluegills, shiners etc. in the seine and use them for bait. Because they are natural, they work very well, especially when the fish are skiddish. Its fun catching them plus sometimes you get crayfish, clippers etc. that also work well. I havent got asked for the permit yet but I do it to be legal and to be safe and I would advise for everyone else to too.
 
#28 ·
Sh*&^y water

Just for the record, I've seen huge golden carp thriving in some incredibly nasty water. At the botton of Citley Ave on the border between Clementon and Pine Hill, right before the tracks where Citley dead ends there is a sewage treatment pond that is just plain nasty. In there I've seen some of the biggest golden carp, which I'm suire are flushed goldfish, that I've ever observed. If they can thrive there, they can thrive anywhere.
 
#29 ·
Def illegal! I believe that goldfish exude some sort of ammonia type chemical which in large numbers can destroy a body of water. Also Carp = Goldfish and they can inhabit the foulest, dirtiest waters and thrive. Carp are the cockroach of h2o. Due to their non native backround and thick scales and size there aren't many fish that can challenge them. It also renders most common disease a non threat to these tanks of freshwater. They also are opportunistic feeders that will eat what most fish don't or won't. Thus making them a formidable opponent to any eco system. ---:eek:---.........But boy are they fun to catch!!!---:razz:---So when it comes to paying a little extra for minnows over goldfish do us and our treasured finned friends a favor and ~THINK~ about it!---:naughty:
------
----
--:please:
 
#30 ·
Guess that settles it... All I really needed to know. Thanks for the info guys, I just didn't want to get in trouble. I knew it had something to do with them being from the carp family and becoming an invasive species if you release the ones you don't use into a body of water.

Ill just stick to cast netting shiners and minnies from a few little honey holes me and my buddy use for freshwater bait.. Rather then pay friggin 25 bucks a goldfish. YEEP!
 
#32 ·
When i was a kid we use to ride our bikes over to Calvalry cemetary just outside of west conshy....its right next to the on ramp for 476 south off madson ford road.....any way there was a little man made pond full of big gold fish...the water was about 12" deep. We would wrap fishing line around a clothes pin and tie on a # 12 hook and catch them on bread..well untill the grounds keepers would run us out any way....that little pond use to freeze solid in the winter but the gold fish were always there in the spring.....when the ice got thin you could actually see them swimming under the ice.
 
#36 ·
Goldfish

Once, a very long time ago I went ice fishing at Atco Lake. It wasn't built up there like it is now.. none of the houses were there, just one big old one that a band called "The Shakes" lived in. It was called Atco House and owned by Maressa, but my memory could be flawed. Anyway the dam was still very much in tact then and the bass and pickerel fishing was great there. I had no idea it was illegal and I used goldfish for bait. The pickerel loved them. They stand out like a lighthouse in the water. I won't use them now in that I know they're illegal, (I've been a pure lure fisherman for the past 25 years or so) but they do make the very best bait.
 
#39 ·
This goes a lot farther than not releasing goldfish. The majority of water we fish here in South Jersey contains natural populations of fish (no stocking by the State of NJ, no population control by fisheries biologists, etc). These natural and very fragile populations can be decimated by introducing ANY fish into these waters. There is always the possibility that the introduced fish will survive, reproduce and affect the population dynamics of the existing species in the water.

Typically, when a body of water is slated to be re-populated by fisheries biologists they start by removing all fish and then re-introducing the new fish by species and numbers. In South Jersey you would expect to see a bass/bluegill or a pickerel/yellow perch managed fishery as these species compliment each other. But throw in another species that may negatively compete with the existing fish and you may throw that water's population out of balance and eventually destroy the fishery.
 
#45 ·
Carp have destroyed to Americas water to the point where man blames catfish, overharvest, and pollution for the decline in fish.

Fish use vegetation for spawning. Carp uproot vegetation, thus fish spawning percentage will be lower.

Rid all waters of those swimming log!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top