On Ebay I saw what looked like a bait cage with six hooks with small leaders to hook the carp or what ever as it tries to go for whats in the bait cage. Are they legal for Texas?

yes it is NOT legal and not very ethical. you want the hook in their mouth, not their gills. And if inadvertently hook a bass or catfish then you could be in some legal issues with snagging.

Thanks Scott

Scott, whats your source for saying that traps like the OP described are legal in TX? Could you point me to the page(s) in the outdoor annual or other regulations? Thanks.

i stand corrected. I thought at one point you could snag a non game fish but it looks like the rules have been more clarified.
While searching the rules I also found where it classifies Gar, Common Carp and Buffalo as edible fish and the waste of game rule applies to them for archery, etc.....

I'll edit my original post

No worries - there's some obscure fishing rules that one has to know where to find, and I thought maybe this was one such case.

Guys at Gibbons power plant outlet waterfall sometimes throw a big treble hook into the flow and do a high lift then retrieve/ repeat to snag the Tilapia. Game Wardens quickly write them up if they are seen using the technique....doesn't matter if they have caught any fish or not.

I think what he is talking about on ebay are from china and meant for Silver and Bighead Carp. What they call explosion hooks, or powder bait trap hooks, or suspension method hooks, but I have no idea what it should be called.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_carp
Silver carp are filter feeders, thus are difficult to catch on typical hook-and-line gear. Special methods have been developed for these fish, the most important being the "suspension method", usually consisting of a large dough ball that disintegrates slowly, surrounded by a nest of tiny hooks embedded in the bait.[3] The entire apparatus is suspended below a large bobber. The fish feed on the small particles released from the dough ball and bump against the dough ball, with the intention of breaking off more small particles that can be filtered from the water, eventually becoming hooked on the tiny hooks.

Your better off with a hair-rig and method feeder. These are legal but unless your eating the fish or using them for bait...it's going to be a mess...

Hair rig



And buy some method feeders...mix breadcrumb, powdered milk and birdseed pack it around this with a bit of bait and your success rate will be much higher and you won't have to deal with all those hooks.