02-07-2010, 01:35 PM
[quote bigearl]While your at it- Does anyone use goldfish for cut bait? It seems to me that the color would help???[/quote]
[cool][#0000ff]Goldfish are carp...and they give off the familiar carpy scent in the water. Most fish recognize it and respond to it. Plus...the orange color of goldfish is a natural attractant to many predator species. Lots of the most effective lures use orange in their color patterns. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Bottom line? Goldfish are a great bait. Use them whole for cats or cut up for trout or smaller species. There are places around the country, where live bait is legal (almost every place but Utah), and a lot of the bait shops have tanks of goldfish for sale to anglers. But, strangely, some states prohibit the use of live ones not for the same reason as Utah but because goldfish ARE carp and have been known to cause problems by overpopulating a lake just like carp. Much prettier but still a problem.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]I used to fish along the lower Colorado River in Arizona. A couple of bait shops there sold lots of large goldfish...up to a foot long (expensive) for use as bait for the big flathead cats that lived in the river locally. They accounted for more than a few catfish over 50 pounds. And the small goldfish worked pretty good on big largemouth bass too.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Koi carp are an exotic variety of Japanese goldfish. Some folks have dumped them (illegally of course) into the Jordan River and Utah Lake...and probably other places as well. It is always interesting to be walking along the shoreline and to see a flash of bright orange...maybe with some white or black in the more exotic color patterns. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Bottom line: If you have a cheap source of dead goldfish, put them on a hook and fish them. They are both legal and effective.[/#0000ff]
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[cool][#0000ff]Goldfish are carp...and they give off the familiar carpy scent in the water. Most fish recognize it and respond to it. Plus...the orange color of goldfish is a natural attractant to many predator species. Lots of the most effective lures use orange in their color patterns. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Bottom line? Goldfish are a great bait. Use them whole for cats or cut up for trout or smaller species. There are places around the country, where live bait is legal (almost every place but Utah), and a lot of the bait shops have tanks of goldfish for sale to anglers. But, strangely, some states prohibit the use of live ones not for the same reason as Utah but because goldfish ARE carp and have been known to cause problems by overpopulating a lake just like carp. Much prettier but still a problem.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I used to fish along the lower Colorado River in Arizona. A couple of bait shops there sold lots of large goldfish...up to a foot long (expensive) for use as bait for the big flathead cats that lived in the river locally. They accounted for more than a few catfish over 50 pounds. And the small goldfish worked pretty good on big largemouth bass too.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Koi carp are an exotic variety of Japanese goldfish. Some folks have dumped them (illegally of course) into the Jordan River and Utah Lake...and probably other places as well. It is always interesting to be walking along the shoreline and to see a flash of bright orange...maybe with some white or black in the more exotic color patterns. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Bottom line: If you have a cheap source of dead goldfish, put them on a hook and fish them. They are both legal and effective.[/#0000ff]
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