Drawout , you are right , We do the samething with our perch . This is also another reason i think this is a dumb a** law .

They made similar laws when I lived in kansas. U can't transport any live fish on public highways or roads. Including live bait fish. And they have a bait ticket they give out at bait shops instead of your receipt. The bait ticket says what the bait is. And the quantity along with the date. And wild caught bait must come from that body of water. But as of last year they changed it. It now says that you can transport live bait from non-ANS waters. I think that enough people called kansas department of wildlife and parks and threw a fit. And they amended the law. And I think that's what needs to be done here. Everyone needs to contact tpwd by letter or phone or email. And voice their opinion of the new laws. And recommend them to amend it. But all the years i was fishing in kansas after this law went into effect never once did a game warden check my bait ticket or anything. The most i got checked for was making sure iddidn't have any illegal game fish in my bait bucket. But i guess it all depends on what GW you get too

I agree i think everyone should call as i have done and let them hear your voice as far as using your own bait fish that have come from your own land . I really dont see any zebra mussels in any of my ponds anytime soon . This Law is just Bull**** to me .

We got up-teen rules up this way in Arkansas too..... You gotta learn them too down to A TEE or the wardens will write you up..ours check more than your's does...However they dont mean no harm just trying to stop those zebra mussles from spreading...this i do know once ya get them they get thick and will stick to anything just about anything.....Once they get in one body of water the next closest will be in danger....We fish Kerr / Texoma / Arkansas river / Dardnelle / Eufala / all of them have mussels in them.....personally they dont bother me but i have a 20/72 aluminum boat they dont really dig the metal..but fiberglass is different story..people that leaves there boats in the water will become a nesting ground for them....I understand being upset guy's..at least in your state you can use a perch over 4inches long we cant....

There's nothing in the new law that says you can't use bait caught in another body of water. What the new law says it that you can't transport that bait in water that is from the lake/pond where the bait was caught. The spread of zebra mussels is through moving water from an infected lake, not bait fish. So transport your bait in tap water treated for chlorine. Any game warden will be able to tell that your cryistal clear tap water wasn't dipped out of any lake.

"There's nothing in the new law that says you can't use bait caught in another body of water."

I know this is a heavy request, but if you can back that up with actual text from the regulations that would be great. Thx.

Not a heavy request at all!

Here's a link to it on TPWD website. https://tpwd.texas.gov/newsmedia/releases/?req=20140522f

Below is an excerpt from that with the relevant text highlighted. I've read this article multiple times over and nowhere does is mention that you can't use bait from another water source. Only that you can't transport them in water from that source.

Live fish, including personally caught live bait, cannot be transported in a vessel in water that comes from the water body where they were caught. Personally caught live bait can be used in the water body where it was caught.

Hmm seems like the wording in that new law is open to interpretation.

Man I don't know what zebra muscles are or what they do or what lakes they have been found in, but I understand why they are trying to implement the laws. There is a good population of tilapia in choke canyon that wasn't there a few years ago. They were brought in from Calaveras and Braunig lakes in San Antonio by a bunch of un informed people who thought they were perch for trotline bait.

Whats the harm in spreading? Who knows, but I highly doubt they will stop the spread of either zebra muscles or tilapia.

Tilapia require warm water, so they will only spread so far. Zebra muscles die in higher temps so they can be subject to limitations based on that.

I think it will surprise you what they are capable of living through.

Don't forget TPWD okayed the importation of billions of gallons of zebra mussel infested water from Texhoma. Feds put a halt to that plan. Now they are dinging boaters for moving a few at a time....

Still can't stop the birds from transporting it. You can build a stock tank and never put fish in it and it will still end up with fish in it.

I catch my bait in cleburne in buffalo creek. I fish mainly in whitney. Where I catch my bait is about 25 miles from where I fish, but buffalo creek runs into lake whitney. In my opinion it wouldn't be transporting bait from a different body of water. There is just too much gray area. It all depends on the particular game warden I guess.

How many of you leave your drains plugs in, and your live wells full when you leave the lake to go home after a day on the water?