I'm looking for where it is said that we can use crappie as fishing bait for Flatheads. i have read the regs and cant find it any where and even close.I know there has to be something there. around here trout is the main bait used by striper guides. so if thy can use a game fish. then i can use a game fish. just want to see it in writing.i would like to know if i can even buy them off to the fish truck that comes around once a month. for stocking ponds. if i can get them off of him and use them legally. then i can pick the size of bait that is best for the fishing that I'm wanting to do.
I have been in contact with the fisheries division at porter, OK. thy confirmed it and warden Don Cole of Wagner, OK and Lt Gary Wilcox of Muskogee, OK also confirmed it. You can use crappie as bait as long as you catch them with rod and reel. No cast nets or traps. But you can buy them and use them as long as you have the bill of sale on your person. while fishing.
whitney,if your just starting to use crappie for bait,your just starting to fish for flaties.shad,perch,etc...flathead will SLAM-DUNK crappie!!!!
any thing that you can catch on a rod and reel can be reused as bait. you can catch all the crappie you want down below the sewer plant on little sallisaw
im not just starting. i have used them in the past but not as much. and when i did use them it was a sure deal. but at he time there was deal with the law and have goten it all sorted out with the northeaster office.
Well boys don't even attempt usin a crappie for bait in these parts. You get caught doin that in Missouri your @$$ is grass. :wink:
there's nothing wrong with using crappie, we use them all the time when were flathead'n' up on the caney, uv'e got to hook em the right way, as they don't stay alive as well as the perch in running water
When the bite slows we use there guts and tear up channels. They put off an oil just like drum, white bass and shad.
Whitney.. I notced the omission in this year's printed regs, so I went to the ODWC website... it was omitted there too. So, I called my local game warden in Muskogee, Mr Lark Wilson (9186254691) and asked "Whazzup?" He quickly looked and agreed that the previous regulation had been somehow omitted from the 2008 regs and told me to sit tight. He called me back and said that the regulations were still in force... so here goes: Any fish caught by legal means that satisfies length requirements becomes the property of the person catching it. The fish is counted in the daily limit for that species, and it may be used as bait in whole or in part. The fish can be used live, cut up for bait or the remains after fileting may be used for bait. It is one of the newer "Common Sense" regulations that makes fishing within the confines of the law much easier. If you would like to verify this (and if you have any doubts like I did), call the ODWC Chief Manneri at 405 521-4643 By the way, a lively 10" crappie suspended under a large float often disappears when placed near a logjam... Have a great time. Albert
I too understand as long as you catch them legally, you can use them as you please. I don't know how you are using them but I will tell you a 10 to 12 inch sandbass fished about a foot deep is a killer flathead bait on jugs or set lines. I use the biggest circle hook I can buy and do well with the small sandies i catch on the lite rod setup that I always carry with me in the boat. Keep them lines wet
i like the sound of a 10" crappie suspended under a float near a log jam that disappears and muscleling a large flathead out of it
I know this is a little off topic, but still on the subject of legally using sportfish for bait. I caught a bunch of stripers yesterday on the river on jigs, and kept a couple to eat for dinner. I was sitting around today day dreaming about catfish, so I decided to pull what was left of the cleaned striper carcasses out of the trashcan outside and headed to the river. In about 30 minutes I caught a 17lb channel, and 31lb blue, and lost the biggest drum I've ever seen right at the waters edge. Anyway, if you ever fillet up some stripers you may want to save the scraps for bait. I've had some good luck on cut sandbass too when I can get anything else for bait. tight lines.
i seen my buddy catch a 33lb blue last year on a big sandbass head. we caught some other fish on the sides. that particular day they was hitting the sandbass a lot better than they were hitting shad.
From what I have heard you can use Crappie but if your on a lake like Ft. Gibson whcih has a 10" size limit you Crappie hast be no smaller than the 10 inch limit or you will be fined!!! So check the reg.'s where your fishing fist.
