According to the post on the top of the page on tff, the new law states that live bait cannot be transported In a vessel of water from which the bait was caught from. I know many have been joking about using dechlorinated tap water, but as far I can tell the law only says you can't transport them In a vessel of water from the body of water they were caught in, it doesn't say you can't move the bait from one body to another. So, under that logic, could a person fill a tank with tap water that is dechlorinated and go catch their bait elsewhere and then bring it in? Or could a fisherman keep a cool tank of the same tap water in his truck and take his bait live bait (minnows,perch) home with him when he is finished so that bait doesn't have to go to waste? It is interesting to read because the law does not as far as I can tell state that you can't transport live fish.....inquiring minds want to know. I don't like wasting perfectly good minnows or perch after a trip, so if you can do this and it is simply a matter of keeping the water in the truck, it's not a problem. Please help me out here as to whether my logic is right or not.

Do you happen to have a link to the text of the actual law? If so, I'll read it over and give my opinion - for whatever y'all think it's worth.

No sir I don't, I only read the copies and pasted txt from what is on tff, I'll look it up though.

Here is what I got straight from TPWD the other day



inld <inld@tpwd.texas.gov>

9:25 AM (8 hours ago)

We know this new rule will take some getting used to, and will cause some inconvenience for boaters and anglers. However, please know that it was not our intent to harass the fishing public. We're trying to stop an invasive pest that could make things REALLY inconvenient for everyone who enjoys water recreation in Texas.

The important point here is NOT to transfer water from one lake, pond or river to another.
The way the law is written, it applies to water in a boat or in any receptacle on a boat.

So let's say you catch some bluegill in a local lake, or maybe in your own stock pond.
If you put them in some water in a cooler or bait bucket in your vehicle, when you get to the lake where you want to fish, you could scoop the fish out with a net and put them in another receptacle in your boat (livewell or a different creel bucket) and fill the new container with lake water. It's OK to transfer the fish, but you can't put the WATER you brought from the other place in your boat.

You could transport your bait (in the vehicle) in water from your well, or some tap water that's been treated to get the chlorine out, or even water from your own stock pond. But you can't carry fish away from a public lake or pond in water from that lake. And if you're driving around with a cooler of fish in tap water, the game warden who might stop you on the way to the lake doesn't know where you got that water, so you still can't take it on your boat. (Unless you bought it at a bait shop and you have a receipt that says their water is OK, as mentioned in the news release.)

Dyanne Fry Cortez
Web Coordinator, Inland Fisheries Division
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
(512) 389-8055

No, you can't do that, because the law does not know where your water came from. When you leave the lake where you were fishing, YOU HAVE TO DUMP ALL WATER IN YOUR BOAT.

I'm not all that interested in the law(I dont want to get fined) because I can't see the few gallons of water I have in my boat causing more damage that the million that are pumped between the lakes by organizations like TRWD, BRA ect.

It's just the state learning out how collect more fines. Nothing to see here, move along.

What about taking bait from say the lake side of Texoma to the trail race of Texoma same water but you have to transport the fish and water from point A to B..

I net bait in east burns all the time have a 45GL barrel we converted to a bait tank it's the same body of water the mussels are alrdy there how would this be enforced..

I'm not a bait guy so my question is regarding livewell systems....it says drained and dried and there is no way to drain and dry a livewell system. I can dry my livewells but not the piping and supporting bulge pumps.

Exactly , heck I can drain my boat on the ramp for 10 minutes leave the lake stop somewhere to eat and come out to water dripping from plug area

It's gonna really suck not being able to run tap water in the bait tank. I've tried putting lake water in it and have had very little luck keeping shad alive for extended periods of time. I guess the thing to do is just drain the bait tank if there is a warden sitting at the dock. Once you get in the water there is no way they could know the difference.

There was a Game Warden on the local Palestine Radio Station this morning. He was saying they had a task force that would be watching as many boat launch sites as possible this holiday weekend. I guess making sure people drain their bilge is way more important than getting drunk boaters off the water and making sure people are safe.

My interpretation is that most lakes are connected through some kind of river, stream or water way so what does it matter? this has been law for sometime to include only some area lakes but yet they still spread. they have somehow found a way to make money off this and we will be paying for it shortly I feel.

I said the same thing only added some experlitive words and they pulled my post. There is no way to keep the mussels from spreading to other lakes. And you are right, somewhere someone is making money off of the law. The only way I would know to be sure you don't spread mussels from one lake to another is after you drain everything, let you boat set for a week and will dry out, if it don't rain. By the way, I understand they started in the Great Lakes, and made it to Texas.

Good thing none of the birds fly from lake to lake.

I waived down 3 blue herons and an egret flying from Tawakoni towards Hubbard....after a little wrestling they seemed no worse for it.

I used Dawn like I see on the Discovery Channel.

P.S. Water turkeys don't seem as willing, may need decoys or some other method.