Just saw the new regulation in the guide for this year.

What are you talking about? Fresh? Salt? Specific waters?

Can you send a link or post a screenshot or something?

it's in the 2019-20 book. A friend just sent me a pic of the page showing the new regulation. page 58
http://www.eregulations.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/19ALAB-LR2.pdf

300 fine per bait fish is what i heard for the fine.

it reads:

A common practice for anglers is to capture
their bait before fishing for their preferred
sport fish. However today, with the new
threats that we now face with the introduction of many invasive aquatic nuisance
species, this practice must be controlled to
better protect Alabama’s valuable aquatic
and fisheries resources. As a result, a new
regulation has been adopted by the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater
Fisheries (WFF) to restrict the transport
of live wild-caught bait fish between the
public freshwater lakes, rivers, reservoirs
and drainage basins within Alabama.
This regulation only pertains to the transport of baitfish that are alive. Dead baitfish
that are being held on ice or preserved in some
fashion for transport to another location or
waterbody are not included in this regulation.

that is a load of chitt!

catch me if you can

while the right hand was passing baiting on the hunting side, the left hand was taking it away on the fishing end.

Does that mean I cant buy minnows at the store and haul them 1/2mile to the lake and fish with them? That sure sounds like what it means.

I see. "Live wild caught".

Thats way I read it

What a crock

Black Salties.

Makes perfect sense to me...

You couldn't go to Wilson and catch shad below Wheeler Dam, and then transport them to fish at Bear Creek or Smith or Lay. Or catch something at Lay and transport it elsewhere.

"wild-caught bait" doesn't discriminate. If you caught 20 bluegills or sunfish on Guntersville for catfishing on Beadle Creek in Winston County -- and even if Beadle Creek has bluegills or sunfish -- by this wording, it's still illegal to transport.

Blueback herring got dumped into Smith by bucket biologists who thought it would be fine. They didn't know about or care about how it might impact the lake, tributaries or downstream. Happens often. Chit gets sideways after that and then people yell about how "this is hurting my ..." whatever they want to be hurt about. Crappie. Bass. Can't find shad. Yell and holler.

$300 per sounds fine to me. Hunters yell all the time about how deer poachers need to be put into prison. That's extreme but they don't care, don't know the difference in prison or jail, and want it to happen. $300 is extreme but it'll work.


Seems a bit out of left field, though. Who's moving enough live baitfish in the state to warrant this change and possible fine?

I don’t really see a problem with this personally. I’m not gonna go throw my bait net at the Alabama river then try and transport them live all the way to lake Jordan, I would just catch them in the net at lake Jordan.... but that’s just me my situation is much different than others

The biggest impact will be on the stripe fishermen. While most if not all waters have gizzard shad in them, that doesn’t mean you can catch them in a net in all of them. There are a handful of dam spillways where these can be caught and where prob 90% of the baits used come from.
Once again , as is usual with the state, the wording is crap. How will they know WHERE you caught the bait and if they catch you catching the bait, how will they know where you plan to fish with them?

True, buzzard, about the striper guys.

As for the wording, it's clear as mud so as to be vague enough to be understood. Got it?

I always buy minnows at the bait shop or catch them on the lake im fishing anyway so I dont see an issue nothing changes for 99% of us. how many people actually go to one body of water to catch bait then load up and drive to another body of water to fish? I dont believe ive ever met one person that does that. how can they tell the difference from bait store bought vs wild anyway or prove you even caught them in a different location unless you run off at the mouth and tell on yourself.

Page 60. 58 is the Sandhill crane info

ive done it before

Vague for a reason, so yo azz can get a ticket then up to you to prove your innocence or pay the ticket.

What we need is more government control.

Are private pond caught fish considered “wild” caught?

I likes to catch bluegill to use for flathead fishing

This is great plan and probably won’t work. It’s all about them Asian carp. Most people can’t tell them from gizzard shad when they are small. But they gonna come one way or another

The Asian carp already are in Pickwick and I think someone said they're in Wilson. If so, only a matter of time before they're in Wheeler and then Guntersville IF they're not already in both.

The damned things might help Wheeler if they could survive all the chemcal chit dumped in the river.


On an upside, Asian carp are FINE EATING when filleted and fried. I've had them side-by-side with fried catfish and would rather have the carp. Everyone else I was with at the event where we had it pretty much agreed.

I make bream baskets for the creeks and use the baits, “creek bream, horny heads, spot tails, crawfish etc” for bait. May have to haul em 20 miles at a time, but I’ll take my chances I guess. Can’t catch that bait in the lake, or I can’t anyway.

On a side note, I know a guy that asked the GW what was the difference in using a crappie for bait instead of a bream, GW said $50!! Lol

Seriously? Huh.

This guy knows what he's doing.

I don't wanna get hit the head running 80 in my boat... ...piss on them nasty carps good for nothings...

I've caught shad at Guntersville and Ohatchee to carry to Smith Lake several times in years past. I've even caught them at Ohatchee and Leesburg to carry them to Guntersville Dam when they were scarce there a few times. I don't see anything wrong with that as long as you're not bringing in a non-native species.

What happens if you catch shad below Neely Dam (Logan Martin Lake) and drive down to fish just above the Logan Martin dam and you get stopped somewhere along the 50 mile ride? Or you catch shad below Neely Dam and fish right above Neely Dam? Hmm, They are the same shad above and below the dam, but two separate lakes. If the dams weren't there there would be no "separate". Oh yeah and don't forget locks, open spillways and floods that co-mingle the water between separate lakes along the same chain of lakes. Chucky and gang and on another stupidity run if you ask me. Wonder if a similar Georgia regulation made Striper Soup go out of the shad business in Georgia? Hmm.

icducks is 100% correct. This is an attempt at slowing the spread of Asian Carp. Clem is also correct, fried Asian Carp is delicious. I'd rank it up there with crappie, bream and bass. Seriously.

Whatever we have to do and however bad it might suck, stopping the spread of Asian carp should be paramount for anyone who fishes the TN river chain. They're coming... and they will seriously hurt the fishery. Talk to some of the KY lake guys. They'll tell you.

Another fuckkin solution lookin for a problem. Those sonofabitches in Montgomery that sit around and think this schit up should be publicly drawn and quartered. I swear I'm real close to hating 100% of those bastards down there.

Haven't done this a lot but we had a go to spot down on Cedar Creek for yellow tail shad when we couldn't get them on the river. I think my dad would've drove to the Moon and back for bait to catch a smallmouth

I always have went to shoal creek and caught a bucket full of stone rollers before I go to the dam fishing, they will bite those before anything in my experience

are you kidding me? We catch our stripes on gizzard shad we catch at the warrior river. This is ridiculous.

Ive never seen one asian carp in our tanks..just freaking shad. We also catch big red horse suckers in the winter.

This means that we wont catch crap for stripes. You bass guys that complain to me all the time about the stripes eating your bass? Wait until they over populate Smith lake then see how the bass fishing is.

Every day bass guys are complaining the stripes are killing the bass there. I believe em as Ive never seen so many big arse stripes. Ive caught over 150 over 15 pounds this year alone.

Once again the idiots at Al F & G with there heads up their posteriors.

We do that all the time...from the Warrior river to Smith. Its like the nazis..when people said..well that doesnt affect me ..so heck..thats ok!

Really? Way too much govt over reach. the dam state these days is worse then the feds.

Try netting them on Smith and PM me when you get a dozen. Not holding my breath.

We all do on Smith. Every ONE of us.

I hate when people think more rules are great if they dont affect THEM. Problem with America these days.

Then when they do affect them..I guess the rest of us already screwed are supposed to give a chit.

Just like when Obozocare hit us small business owners first. Guys with company paid health insurance that didnt get hit until after the election were like..I dont care..MINE is still good.

Now that theyre screwed too they cry like the rest of us are supposed to care when they just bent over. Freaking idots.

Same thing here. Wait until black salties and other bait are outlawed too...but dont come crying to us. You were fine with US getting screwed so phuck yall too.

Your freedoms are taken incrementally..not all at once..but some on here just accept it. Quite freaking sad actually. Same thing will happen to your gun rights..or your freedom of speech. Oh thats right..it already is isnt it? Just keep bending over and letting it happen...

unless they actually catch you launching the boat with the bait or see you net them somewhere else how in the heck can they prove they were transported from another body of water as opposed to being bought at the bait shop or raised in a tank if you just refuse to be interrogated? Its the LEO job to prove the burden of guilt you do not have to prove your innocence they have to prove you're guilty Gw "can i see your license" "Sure here you go" GW " was this bait caught in another location" "do you have reason to believe they were? if not may I please have my license back and continue my fishing trip" your not required to answer anything a LEO asked besides showing legal document like ID License etc.... you can be completely mute and it aint nothing they can do.

and for you guys using black salties..you think their native to the waters? They are goldfish!

Also last time I got black salties..there were 2 BLUE Back herring in the live well. They had them in with the salties. I didnt use them and threw them out as they are illegal on Smith I had heard.

So youll see Black salties will be outlawed soon as well...probably next year. Let me know how that works out for yall.

Try winter fishing for stripes without shad or redhorse suckers......make sure you post the pics..Ill be waiting..and once again not holding my breath. You people that just dont mind laws taking away our rights are as bad as freaking democrats IMO.

Its one step at a time...dam wake the heck up.
This is the worst F & G leadership Ive ever seen. Bunch of dam idots

Striped bass have been in Smith for 35-40 years if not longer. Bass fishing is far better now than 30 years ago, for sure. Thirty years ago if someone told me I had to go bass fishing at Smith or go have a colonoscopy, I'd have asked for a tube of KY and gone to the doctor's office. It wasn't known as the Dead Sea for nothing.


As for eating Asian carp, the restaurant at Kentucky Dam Village has them on the menu on Friday nights and they often run out. I've been told some other restaurants in western Kentucky also were serving them. They renamed them something like "Kentucky whitefish" to keep the "Ewwww, gross and stinky!" folks from not trying them.

Winter stripers ... livewells would be about as empty as AOC's brain.

really Clem? I have people complaining all the time they cant catch crap here for bass. Blaming on the stripers eating the bass. EVERY TIME I FISH. They tell us to kill em all.

I dont know though..Im only here 4 dam days a week. It maybe better but if you think bass guys prefer it youre mistaken.

They all tell me they like the murkier water better. and they should . Its clear as heck here.

And how do YOU propose we catch those 30 to 40 pounders we catch is skinny shallow water in winter and spring? We wont catch any as there is no way other then planer boards with shad and red horse suckers.

NONE that I know of..but Ill google it. People who willingly give up freedoms to either STATE or FEDERAL govts are freaking IDIOTS IMO. Every law is passed to make things better..for the best of the whole. Tell me how thats working out for you OK?

Sheeple....and that is truly what I think of them. Yall give up youre freedoms one inch at a time. Im almost 60..wont affect me soon..but Ill be laughing from my grave at yall who just rolled over and let it happen when the libs wont let you fish or hunt, and you cant have guns except bolt action rifles and 6 shooters. Yall get the crop you sowed. Enjoy the eating.

1 INCH at a time. Youd think youd all understand by now.

I'm sure they do an number on whatever they get their mouths around. Bass, crappie, forage, whatever.

Speaking of killing them, if you want to do it the "most humane way" for eating this is interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS4AM9mPX-8

I was agreeing with you about needing shad or suckers in winter, or you'd have empty livewells. Have an Old Milwaukee, goober.

They truly eat everything in sight. Only predators for them..is us striper guys.

Only fish we can catch here for bait are crappie and they wont let us. $50 fine per fish.

So someone please tell me what our option is in this clusterphuck of state governmental over reach.

When CWD comes and they go and the states teams come and shoot all your deer..dont come crying..it is all for the best..remember?

Oh wait..that affects you ALL, so its BAD! I forgot. Freaking insanity these days.

It ONLY GOOD if it DOESNT affect you. Because thats not selfish, narrow minded or idiotic right? Wake the hell up.

The hypocrisy here is more then I can bear.

The question above about catching fish for bait below a dam and using them in the lake above the dam -- same river, water moving through the dam -- is a good one.

Im just pissed because I fish that way and I HATE govt over reach. We had a revolution about a freaking Tax on tea. Heck..Im two sheets into the wind already..I had 4 shots of whiskey just reading this It got me so mad goober. My wife kept asking..youre not having another one..? Bottoms up dammit. UH OH.....

Yall know I still like ya Clem. But I hate big Govt at any level. Im a small govt, free market, free every thing american. Who cherishs my rights. I hate given up any at anytime..cause I know more rules, regs and over reach are coming.

Chuck Sykes needs to find a new job. Ive always stuck up for him but theyre off theyre rockers now. How do we get his arse out of office. I say we all try to get it done.

I will truly work as hard as I can to help anyone with a plan to get his arse out of there. Hes moronic now.

It said "one body of water to another". Sounds like that would be the same body of water.

Beadlescomb asked how we catch shad at Smith..he heard we cant..he was right. We travel to catch em. But I have never seen one asian shad after seeing TENS OF THOUSANDS of shad caught. Not one and my buddy runs 12 big livewells that we fill with shad .

I bought a dozen black salties and had 2 blue backed herring. So please tell me where the problem lies.

Im just a common sense realist. I know what I SEE and base my opinions on FIRSTHAND knowledge. Ten thousand shad..no asian carp...12 black salties..2 blue back herrings which are already illegal on Smith. Pretty freaking easy to see..Ray Charles could figure it out.

I assume this is to stop the spread of blueback herring by fishermen.

Now let’s see how the bass guys feel about stripers now that none will be caught at smith or Martin. Let’s see if the bass have something to eat now. Phuck the dcnr and the horse they rode in on.

When I was a kid I would spend Saturday morning catching bream, suckers, or whatever I could out of the creek and my grandfather and I would use them to set out catfish lines in the river that afternoon. Such innocent activities will now be illegal. I've done something similar as an adult for striper fishing and never hurt a thing in the world.

If Asian carp are the problem, why not simply make it illegal to transport Asian carp? I've never seen a govt agency take so many adversarial positions against the people as this one.

I say we figure out where Chucky lives and every striper fisherman in the state blacks out his bait tank with shad and goes and dumps them on his front lawn in a parade of striper boats and let him sort through them and see if there were any invasives in there.

The article says " As a result, a new
regulation has been adopted by the Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater
Fisheries (WFF) to restrict the transport
of live wild-caught bait fish between the
public freshwater lakes, rivers, reservoirs
and drainage basins within Alabama."

Are the dammed rivers (Coosa, Tennessee, etc) creating reservoirs or freshwater lakes? If so, catching shad below the dam and transporting them to above the dam would not be legal from how I read it. Just another Chucky screw up.

I think a live bait transport privilege license is called for here.

If that’s the case why do you have to have shad or suckers to catch them?

Because you're not permitted to use bass or crappie?

From what i see it has an article about the new regulation, but I could not find where it was law and what the fine was. This is about as clear as a mud puddle, Once again. Just like last years supplemental feeding reg.

Can anybody show where the actual LAW is in writing and not just the vague article in the magazine?

it's not a LAW, it's a department generated REGULATION.

where does it show the reg and the subsequent fine Troy? By the way, Smith Lake is literally the sipsey fork of the Warrior river. if we catch shad in the Warrior river isnt Smith Lake actually the same body of water?

Again vagueness and another poorly written regulation.

Mandatory for infants to death?

I tried to find it and couldn't, only the "interpretation" of it. I'd like to see the exact wording myself.

Thanks Troy..now I dont feel so stupid. Ive spent 3 hours looking this am.

WTH is that about? If you have a regulation it needs to be in writing and include the penalty. Extremely vague BS reg IMO.

ALDCNR does a terrible job of getting ACCURATE information out to the public in a timely manner. Always have.

it should read as a fine for each invasive species in possession, ie, if you are caught with a carp, herring , etc.
I've fished for Stripe for over 20 years and i have personally never been on a boat that the bait was checked to see what one was using. I have had the fish box checked, fishing license, etc. but never the bait. I know it has been illegal but how often do they "really" check? I would rather them start enforcing current laws than make new regulations. smh.

Those eregulations are not right only go by the regulations, laws you see on outdooralabama website or in the magazine

I'm a little unclear on something, is Outdoorobsession for or against the new regulation????

Isn't there already some type of law or regulation that prohibits the introduction of an invasive species into a waterway???

I was thinking if you caught some bait below a dam, then locked through to another part of the river, (which would be another lake but the same river), how could they possibly say that it was another body of water when you never left your boat????

BUT, our "government" let's illegals literally POUR across our boarders in to the USA - and a bunch of them end up here in Alabama. What the hell is our state doing to keep those "invasive species" out???

Nothing. And then they will provide medicaide to those 25 and under.

F O L L O W the money...

I know a bunch of guys who catch bream from a neighborhood lake and take them on the river to fish with.

What a stupid regulation. It’s an over reach and an over reaction.

Just pretend you are an illegal immigrant and IGNORE it! If Mr. Green-jeans catches you just tell him you name is Juan and you "Habla no Englashe"... LOL!!!!

Or just run. That alwYs gets an excited response. They won’t shoot you for running. I know this for a fact

true on the shooting Matt, but I bet they will sic a beagle on yer azz......

Stripe fishing on Smith will be tough with out being able to bring shad in by bait tank.

You can stop right there. It applies TO ANYTHING they touch.

Catch me if you can

can they actually enforce this without the weight of the law behind it or is it just more or a guideline they hope you will follow? what law will they say you broke if you get cited and take it to court?

I'm sure it's not a popular opinion based on most of the reactions here, but I do this kind of research and anglers are the #1 reason most of our sportfish populations in the southeast are so messed up. Alabama Bass have been moved into Chattahoochee and Savannah almost causing native shoal bass and redeye bass to go extinct from hybridization. Same thing with introduced smallmouth bass into the Savannah River. The facts and science do not change based on opinions, but I see where folks could be outraged at this. Just do a little reading on non-native fish introductions into native fisheries before burning the capital building down.

it will have the force of law.

Flathead catfish introduced into the Altamaha River in Georgia pretty much wiped out the sunfish. I think smilar issues happened in some southeast Bama and Panhandle rivers.

Lake Trout introduced in Yellowstone NP pretty much were wiping out native trout.

Im just wondering how it will be enforced since there is no law on the books banning the practice. Can the DCNR just make up the rules as they go. how will it have the force of the law if they can't cite what section of the code you have broken? can you please explain it to me im sure you no more about how that works than anyone on the site.

they just haven't.d printed the 19-20 regs yet. If they passed it, then it will show up in print, with a number.