I saw an older thread about transportation of live bait. I have a private lake here in Smithville I wanted to catch blue gill from and take them to Lake Somerville.
Did anyone ever speak to a warden or TPW about how to interpret the law? I can even use water from my house and treat it with something that removes the chlorine etc.
If not I’ll see who I need to talk to and then update this post with my findings.

As I understand it, if you're transporting live bait you have to be able to prove where it came from. The only way I know to do that is with a receipt from a bait shop. Otherwise, the live bait has to be caught on the body of water that you're fishing.

I know that's not terribly helpful. but, i have been checked by the game warden while coming into a couple of parks to make sure that my live wells were empty and dry and I had a receipt for any live bait.

The law prohibits transferring lake water from private or public waters due to Zebra Mussels. . You can however bring treated tap water and transport them that way.

This. use treated tap water to rid it of Chlorine/chloramine/ammonia. Don't forget to add salt.

It’s about the water, not the fish, with the exception of some areas where big head and silver caro have been found then no transportation from those areas

You can treat tap water with vitamin C. Crush a tablet between two spoons and sprinkle a small amount into the water. The reaction is almost instant. It's cheap, easy to get and safe.


The US Forest Service has a good write up about. Amounts to use and lists what the chlorine is converted to.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/t-d/pubs/html/05231301/05231301.html

To remove chorine, I use a RV filter that goes on a water hose from Walmart. Its around 12$ and will last me most summer.

Yes I talk to a Game Wared Buddy about the law. He said as posted above its the water the state is concerned about. He said if he looks in your bait tank and it clean water he doesn't care. If its dirty water then he is going to talk to you.
But different Wardens may intrepid the law different.

Part of the confusion is that the regulations and interpretations have changed over the years. Here is the current wording from the TPWD page:

“It is unlawful to place any game fish into public waters, other than the body of water where the fish was caught, without a valid permit issued by TPWD. This includes fish caught by pole and line. To apply for a permit to place fish into public waters (no fee required), download an application form or call (800) 792-1112 (menu 4) or (512) 389-4742.”

So currently there is only a restriction against moving game fish into public waters without a permit.

But then there is also this bait regulation, which appears to possibly contradict the above regulation.

“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.”

So, unfortunately it depends on how the activity is interpreted by a game warden. If you use treated tap water for the fish from your private pond, and place the fish in that water, that doesn’t appear to conflict with the written regulations. Interpretation is another issue. I was told by a game warden that only water from a permitted commercial seller is allowed. That is why you could need a receipt.