It looks like that's only if you bought your bait commercially. Here is what is on the site ( http://www.tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/ou...aquatic-species http://www.tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/ou...aquatic-species):

That's correct. You can only transport live bait if you bought it commercially. Hence the receipt comment.

Quick question. If i catch sunfish or shad in lake placid can i use it a bit further downstream in the guadalupe. Also if i caught sunfish in the san marcos river could i use that bait in the guadalupe river since the two meet further downstream. The mussel laws are tough to interpret for river bankfishermen imo.

perch
are always good

So guys going on shad trips with Capt Larry are only legal if they use said shad at Lavon and no where else?

Use the bait where you catch it.

If you throw them on ice, it's no problem. They just don't want you transporting water from one body of water to a different one.

my interpretation is that you cant transport wild caught live bait in water from the body of water that it was caught, but you can transport wild caught live bait in dechlorinated tap water using dechlorinator that you can purchase at any pet store or wal mart thats made for setting up aquariums.....i could be wrong though, but it also says that "Personally caught live bait can be used in the body of water where it was caught", it doesnt say it HAS to or that its ONLY to be used in the water body where it was caught.....just my interpretation

Live fish, including personally caught live bait, cannot be transported from the water body where the fish were caught in or aboard a vessel IN WATER from the water body where the fish were caught. Personally caught live bait CAN be used in the water body where it was caught.
Transport and use of commercially purchased live bait in water while fishing from a vessel is allowed, provided persons in possession of the bait have a receipt that identifies the source of the bait. Any live bait purchased from a location on or adjacent to a public water body that is transported in water from that water body can only be used as bait on that same water body.

Anybody else get that interpretation?

not at all a coincidence as in the hot water your cut bait gets cooked a lot quicker and blues are predators first and foremost so they are actually looking for live bait all the time ... injured live bait is more attractive to them as well ... also more attractive to flatheads too ... when I use bluegill or green sunfish for bait I always scale them and the fish home in on them much quicker than ones that are not scaled ... friend of mine was fishing for flathead below keystone dam and I asked how he was doing and he said he hadn't gotten a bite all day and I asked him if he was scaling his bait and he said no ... I had him reel his bait up and I scaled it a little on both sides and he dropped it back down and before I was able to walk back over to the steps to rig up my rods he caught one and he ended up catching 4 more in just about an hour and 15 minutes after he started scaling his baits ... try it and it'll help a lot as any fish in the area that detects that scaled bait won't pass it up as they will if it's not scaled

I agree with you on this one, I scale my bait as well, sometimes I'll even cut the tip of the tail off to make em bleed a little bit and cause them to swim like they are wounded

I just spoke with a game warden, and from what he told me, it is legal to transport wild caught baitfish from one body of water to another, as long as you use dechlorinated tap water and absolutely no water from the body of water where they were caught, this is straight from the mouth of the law itself....

Better get that in writing.

Great info tiny I noticed this as well.wondered if anyone else was doing it.always a pleasure to read your posts5

I wonder if I could go to the departments office and get it in writing....he seemed to be knowledgeable of the laws and seemed confident....but again, that is the exact interpretation I got from reading the regulations....so he can't be too far off...