since everyone says no, i'm going to say yes.bait is smelly and makes your fingers get icky.

It makes me sick to see "trout fisherman" in the summer gut hook smolt after smolt on some of our upper watersheds with worms. Upper watersheds with native rainbow/cutts and anadromous species should have CNR release regs to insure future survival.

Any Idaho fisherman in here? I believe they have some of the best managed fisheries in the world and the numbers of native/hatchery fish to back it up from what i hear.

Let's see in this State they still let Natives be killed but want to ban bait?

How bout the other way around

Hell no to the bait ban. What would happen if we tried to ban flies?

No, Ore.

It's not the bait doing that, bardo.

No.

State wide no!

Selective timing YES! Protect nates, protect smolt, protect trout, stop the bonking of dark fish for the eggs.

thick

No way, I enjoy my bobber and goodies probably just as much as a flyfisherman enjoys his. We need to have the right ot choose. I would consider it if the state would stop all netting and we all know the reality of that.

I'm in favor of a bait ban state wide in Washington for three reasons:

1. I don't live there, so it won't impact my use of eggs on Midwest winter fish

2. I would have a better chance of beating the Reiter Rat if he could only use yarn

3. My wife doesn't buy the excuse that my fingers smell like fish because I have been steelhead fishing in Washington. DNA samples are pending in an approved lab.

4. I figured you would all get PO'd if I said yes, and someone needs to take the heat off of Bardo

No way! Anytime of year. An eggslinger till I die!

Hell no in washington

Not just no but **** no!
Not an all-out statewide ban. There is a time and place for everything, even bait bans.
Oregon

Ban nets not bait!

Don't know what kind of bait your using but they seem to swallow mine. On a recent trip 4 weeks ago 10 fish boated 1 bleeder 4 with the leader deep in the gullet. If river is C&R as that one was for wild fish no bait. If retention is allowed bait yes.

Instead of H@#$ No! responses it would be interesting to hear some justification to the response. I believe Reiter Rat asked some soul searching questions that no one even bothered to eloborate on or answer. My opinion was just that, an opinion and I am not out to tell others how to fish, but I was able to back my opinion up with some justification and reason for my response. Not trying to start a flame here, but just a better understanding why the hardline stance instead of thinking about it and perhaps looking at the bigger picture. BTW I'm not buying it has a right and for the record I still drift fish occasionally.

I would have to say no also. But I'm kind of up in the air about it since I've been doing so much better fishing worms lately than I ever have fishing bait. So, I might completely abandon using bait in the future and not really care if there's a ban. But probably not. Die hard powerbait fan for trout in lakes present! Seriously though, I still and always will enjoy drifting bait through a nice slot and feeling that gentle tap tap tap...or in some cases slam slam slam! Who'd wanna give that up?

I think bait bans would be a great tool in certain watersheds where the native run is depressed or threatened. Where you still have strong native runs I don't think you need to implement this although I think it would make a huge difference on survival rates on released natives. I'm primarily concern with the diver and bait fisherman since the fish have tendency to swallow the bait with this technique compared to drift fishing. I would probably support a statewide bait ban since I've had my best winter steelhead season ever and have not used bait one time all season. Another option would be to ban bait starting February 1st through April which is generally the time when your natives come into the rivers anyways. Just my 2 cents worth!

fishinglunatic

You just said;" I don't think you need to implement this although I think it would make a huge difference on survival rates on released natives." What released native are you talking about?

Cowlitzfisherman
Is the taste of the bait worth the sting of the hook???

The answer is simply "no", I fish mainly lakes for warmwater species and trout and this idea would devestate the lake fishery. Not everyone is a fly fisher.