Hello,

I am going trotlining/jugline fishing in a few weeks, with my kids, and not looking to spend a crazy amount on bait. Does anyone know if there are places in the San Antonio area that I could catch some good bait, pretty fast? I am going to try catching some this weekend, and put them in a big tank with aerator till fishing time. I know I can go to the discharges and load up in one or 2 casts, at either braunig or calaveraz, but 1) it�s pricey just to go catch bait, and 2) I�m looking to do it from shore, and get my son in on the action. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you guys, and God Bless!!!

You could catch a few carp or drum and use them as cut bait.

Ok, where would one go about catching drum, or carp in San Antonio? I know carp can be good bait, but last time I caught one of those was in choke canyon. I heard braunig has a few, but never heard of anyone catching them. Any info would be greatly appreciated. I have a pond that I want to catch some small bullheads from, but other than that I�m looking for all other kinds of bait that I can get ahold of. Bream, shiners, baby tilapia, gizzard shad, pretty much anything that will ring the dinner bell for some catfish. Thank you.

Most any creek around will have sunfish under the bridge. Take the kids to catch bait and use that to catch cats!

+1 you'll be killing 2 birds with 1 stone

don't forget... be mindful of the regulations regarding transportation of live fish. The push against zebra muscles has made taking live bait from a body of water or to a body of water difficult.


From TX P&W regs regarding possession and transport...

"Mandatory Draining of Water from Vessels

Persons leaving or approaching public fresh water are required to drain all water from their vessels and on-board receptacles (includes live wells, bilges, motors and any other receptacles or water-intake systems coming into contact with public waters). This rule applies at all sites where boats can be launched and includes all types and sizes of boats whether powered or not, personal watercraft, sailboats, kayaks/canoes, or any other vessel used to travel on public waters.

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."

It goes on from there...

When you say difficult, do you mean impossible? Or are there ways around it? I don�t mean are there ways around it, by being shady, i mean are there legitimate ways around it. My plan is to do some line fishing at choke, but I wanted to go prepared with some good bait. I�ve been a few times over the years, and bait was crazy hard to come across. Good sunfish hope in choke would be nice. Used to catch over 100 sunfishes night in what was once the 90 acre lake there, but I have not seen the water high enough to fish from the dock there in the lights. Any insight would be great. Thank you guys for being very responsive, and helpful.

The regulations are pretty clear.
Nothing is impossible, and there are ways around it.....It's called ignoring or breaking the law!
Why take the chance of as you say being shady?
Just catch your live bait at the lake you intend to fish at, or buy bait from the local bait shop, as
It's not that difficult to do or to understand.

Sorry, bud but I was not implying that I was going to be taking the chance of breaking the law. Perhaps I could have been more clear, but not sure how. I was strictly asking for information understanding. That is the whole reason I asked about how the bait shops are able to do it. The more information you know, the better it is to avoid ending up in a sticky situation. No harm intended.

JGuer04, I think that's a legitimate question. Always better to ask vs having a family fun outing turn into an expensive ticket and ruin the trip. I was at another lake (not Choke) bass fishing and visited with the local game warden and asked about that (because we like to fish jugs occasionally). Like many of our fish and game laws, if there seems to be any grey area - ask the fella that is going to be writing the ticket. This particular warden said that if we brought our own live bait and he was the one that checked us, we had better be able to prove point of origin and prove that the bait was transferred from the "foreign" water into water from the lake and the foreign water was drained in a location that it could never find it's way into the lake. Basically said we could take a pic of the place we caught them, leave them at a location away from the lake, take the boat to the lake and fill the livewell with fresh lake water, go back and transfer them individually into the livewell, and then get rid of the water in the tank that we carried them in... too much of a PIA for me. He went on to say that the next warden might have a totally different opinion. I suggest contacting the local warden and asking him how he interprets the law in your exact situation. It can be very confusing.
As for the bait shop the regs say
"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."

Not to encourage being shady, but in the spirit of wondering if it would be legal...

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.

I wonder if it would be legal to transport the fish in an aerated container filled with bottled distilled water or from a municipal water supply that had been treated/dechlorinated sufficiently to keep fish alive?

The regs are really specific about the
"in water from the water body where the fish were caught" which caused me to wonder about that.
If I knew who to contact at TPWD to ask this question I would. I bet i am not the only person who has wondered about that wording.

I would not recommend trying this unless it had been clarified as OK from someone at TPWD but I've also heard that individual game warden's interpretation is the determining factor of getting a ticket for breaking a law. So there's that. Maybe find out who the senior warden is for Choke and try to get him or her to answer?

edit> had not seen driedmeat post above when I made this reply.

Something I just remembered, there�s a couple behind the Choke Canyon lodge that sell cut up carp. It�s not particularly cheap (cheaper than a ticket!), but you�re not going to find a better bait to use for trot lines. If you�re interested let me know and I�ll see if I can find their number again.

Just to clarify myself, I am not planning to do anything. Before I knew it was illegal, I was going to load up on bait here in sa, about a week before going, and keep it alive, as I have seen people do for years. That way I wouldn�t have to worry about if we would have bait when we get there. Now that I know this, I have rerouted my plan to other options, that are not guaranteed, but are pretty much the only options I know of at the moment. Catch bait there, but bait there, and/or dead bait.

Thank you dried meat, and Jon for sharing your experience, and that information is great. Pretty much I would imagine it boils down to the guy writing the ticket. Too much of a process and pia just to haul bail lol, so I just have to brush up on my netting, and panfishing skills. I appreciate you guys understanding my want for the information.

When I went to choke maybe 10 years ago, a guys staying next to me was loading up with big cats and lots of them. He showed me that he was using cut carp for bait, and every day we sat on the bank and put a big red and wheaties mixture on a hook, and would catch a carp in less than 10 minutes. Do you guys know of any other methods that are useful at chime in catching fresh carp, or do I need to chum them in with cattle cubes or something? Been years since I�ve been there, and have yet to land a big cat off a line, but I never really knew too much of what I was doing. Now I want to execute, so that me and my son can feel accomplished that planning works when applied right.

Grout scout, thank you for the information. Right across from the little gas station before the park entrance, there is a little pond, and I think I saw a sign there that said carp for sale. I think the people were holding some live in there, but they were part of stump jumpers, so stashing carp was like gold for them. Is this the same place your thinking of? If not, any info you may have would be great.

Thanks again guys. All great information.

i bet you think twice before asking questions on here
again

Freez the perch you and the kids catch and take them with you. Also there is a place in tilden that sells live bait. Asian market's in S.A. sell carp and buffalo. Castnet by the boat ramp in the eavning will get you some shad.