A while back several of you were discussiong the new bill that would limit using any gamefish but bream as bait.
As a reminder, this would have eliminate trout as one of our options. Even if you do not use trout for bait you should still be concerned about fishermen losing another right. Just think, next time it might be something that would restrict one of your preferred techniques.
Anyway, I wrote my SC Senator and SC House member as well as the Govenor and the SC Ag Committee and requested that they ammend the bill to allow commercially bought trout as bait with the requirement of having your receipt in possession. On Friday SC Senator Tom Corbin confirmed that on Thursday they did correct the bill to allow commercially bought trout as bait and moved it forward.
Here is how the Chapter 13 clean-up bill was amended last week to address trout as bait for the Savannah River system. Thanks for you help with this business
SCDNR Fisheries Section is interested in submitting a proposal to Midlands for funding support to install an oxygen generator at the Bayless facility. Forrest Sessions is at a world aquaculture meeting in Nashville this weekend and plans to talk to vendors at the associate trade show to gather some additional information on spec-ing a system. DNR should have a proposal by the end of next week.
AMENDED, READ THE SECOND TIME
S. 304 (Word version) – Senators Shealy, Cromer and Campsen: A BILL TO AMEND SECTIONS 50-13-10, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO CERTAIN TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS REGARDING GENERAL RESTRICTIONS ON FRESHWATER FISHING, SO AS TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CHANGE AND TO REVISE THE DEFINITION OF THE TERM “BAIT FISH”; TO AMEND SECTION 50-13-60, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE LAWFUL POSSESSION OF FISH, SO AS TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CHANGE TO THE PROVISION RELATING TO THE POSSESSION OF A GAME FISH; TO AMEND SECTIONS 50-13-200, 50-13-210, 50-13-250, 50-13-260, AND 50-13-270, ALL AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF FRESHWATER GAME FISH, SO AS TO REVISE THE AGE OF PERSONS IN A BOAT THAT MAY USE AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF FISHING DEVICES, TO REVISE THE NUMBER OF TROUT THAT MAY BE TAKEN ON THE LOWER REACH OF THE SALUDA RIVER, TO PROVIDE THE LEGAL LENGTH OF SMALLMOUTH BASS THAT MAY BE TAKEN FROM CERTAIN LAKES, RIVERS, AND RESERVOIRS ALONG THE STATE’S WESTERN REGION, AND TO MAKE A TECHNICAL CHANGE; TO AMEND SECTION 50-13-620, 50-13-625, AND 50-13-635, ALL AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE PROTECTION OF NONGAME FISH, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A COMMERCIAL TROTLINE WHICH USES FIFTY OR FEWER HOOKS MUST BE MARKED AT INTERVALS OF TWENTY-FIVE HOOKS, TO REVISE THE AGE OF PERSONS IN A BOAT THAT MAY USE AN UNLIMITED NUMBER OF FISHING DEVICES, AND TO REVISE THE NUMBER OF SET HOOKS A RECREATIONAL FISHERMAN MAY USE.
The Senate proceeded to a cons
Seems like a completely unnecessary bill. Just allow trout as long as they were legally caught or purchased and you are within the limit. I don’t see what difference it makes if I catch a trout and use it for bait or fry it in a pan. Trout will not live during the summer anywhere in the state that they are not already stocked, so they are not going to invade lake Murray.
Tom I think the fear lies more in transmission of diseases like whirling disease to the trout below Lake Murray and not so much with establishing a population in the lake… Georgia allows the use of trout as bait when you have a receipt for them so this language is intended to be compatible with Georgia’s regulation. I hope the possession limit for purchased trout is addressed somewhere else in the bill…
Team Shad Up & Fish
If you’ve had fun catching fish on the transom bait, you are welcome…
I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…