Bait Question

Ok been looking through the regs and maybe im not looking in the right places but Im curious as to if or not you can use live bait namely herring for salmon?  I have some ideas floating around in my head on ways I could use em if you can

it depends if it's fresh or salt water. Point defiance use to sale live bait for fishing. but fresh water rules pg 16 says no naha, nine.
 SO yes salt no fresh. Unless you can say to the gamey, how did I snag that in the head.

Statewide Freshwater Rules, p16:
It is unlawful to possess or use live aquatic animals as bait, EXCEPT:

1. Live aquatic animals (other than fish) collected from the water being fished.
2. Live sand shrimp.
3. Live forage fish in the Columbia River downstream of the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line.

No mention of bait restrictions in salt water.

Lol yeah out in the salt... thatd be pretty hard to explain to the gamies... "it was a suicidal herring officer i swear... had somethin else on there and that lil bastard just jumped on the hook honest"

The rules says you can't have any  game fish alive on your hook that its not legal to fish for in the area. SO herring yes whole pink salmon no. But then again you could use the same argument in reverse for the salmon. How did he impale himself on both hooks thats wierd officer.

However, if pink salmon are in season and legal to retain, you could theoretically use it for bait. However, it would still count toward your daily limit for retention.

You can use live bait as long as your bait is from the same body of water

You can use live bait as long as your bait is from the same body of water

... and is not a fish if you are fishing freshwater or the Columbia above Rocky Point.

You can use live bait as long as your bait is from the same body of water

... and is not a fish if you are fishing freshwater or the Columbia above Rocky Point.

^^^ I should just quote the regs.... For freshwater rules it says

It is unlawful to chum, broadcast, feed, or distribute into freshwater any bait or other substance capable of attracting fish unless specifically authorized in Special Rules.
Where use of bait is prohibited, or where lures or flies are used voluntarily, Game Fish may be caught and released until the daily limit is retained. If any fish has swallowed the hook or is hooked in the gill, eye, or tongue, it should be kept if legal to do so.


It is unlawful to possess or use live aquatic animals as bait, except:
1.Live aquatic animals (other than fish) collected from the water being fished.
2.Live sand shrimp.
3.Live forage fish in the Columbia River downstream of the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line.