Fishing with spawn??

[rodmoen]

Hey guys, I have some spawn sacks from some perch and trout that I couldnt tell had spawn when i kept them, and I have heard it is great to fish with, but have never tried it myself. If any of you have tried using it, I would be very appreciative of some suggestions on how you rig it, how you fish it and what you are targeting. Thanks much

[DTro]

You cannot fish with gamefish or parts of gamefish legally in MN.

[rodmoen]

Dtro, do you know if this includes border waters with WI??

[DTro]

I don't, sorry.

[KC612]

I've fished with spawn sacks up on the north shore, but I'm thinking they may have been synthetic?

[matthothand]

A few months ago I e-mailed the DNR and asked them the legality of spawn as bait. They understand it has long been the practice among steelhead and salmon fisherman to use spawn bags (or if you're a dee bag, roe sacs) as bait and though I've never heard of an instance of this being enforced, it is illegal if the spawn came from a gamefish. Only spawn from rough fish may be used legally. They have been trying to get this rule amended but keep having legislature issues.

[rodmoen]

Thanks for the input guys... Better be safe and just not use them...

[Joe's Kid]

I've bought bags and containers of "spawn" or eggs, roe, whatever you want to call it in bait shops. The shops are well established and I am pretty certain that they wouldn't sell anything illegal.

Are they selling eggs from non-game fish?

[DTro]

Plenty of illegal things in a bait shop, I would never use that as a gauge.

Take cast nets for example, or those flood lights that float, or those remote control boats with a hook and line underneath them. All illegal in MN.

[tunrevir]

Good point dtro! A real simple example is the "mineral blocks" with pieces of corn or acorns sold at many big box stores. It isn't illegal to sell them but is illegal to hunt over them but many people assume since they are sold by retailers they are also legal to hunt over or with.

Tunrevir~

[Joe's Kid]

Thanks, Dtro. Good point.

Sometimes I forget that one should never assume anything.

[Itsa Pole Bender]

I've bought bags and containers of "spawn" or eggs, roe, whatever you want to call it in bait shops. The shops are well established and I am pretty certain that they wouldn't sell anything illegal.

Are they selling eggs from non-game fish?

Being from Michigan originally where many of us use spawn for Steelies, I was surpised when i bought some salmon spawn in Duluth for Steelhead fishing and the cashier said "make sure you keep your sales receipt". He told me without it I couldn't prove it wasn't from a gamefish. Apparently the receipt made me leagal. I have been meaning to ask a CO about this, but haven't yet.

By the way steelhead spawn is a much better bait than salmon spawn for steelies!

[mainbutter]

I use salmon roe all the time fishing for salmon and rainbow trout in Alaska. It works pretty good, but I usually reserve it for low-vis conditions where inline spinners and spoons aren't performing.

I have yet to try any kind of fish eggs in MN for the legality reasons stated above.