Legal or illegal

[chrisonice]

I was thinking about using two hooks to hook one bully on the mouth and the tail, would that be the same as using two lines or?

[Moose-Hunter]

The legality may be at the descretion of the CO... Sounds like a worm harness with a bully attached. Good question!

[Lowblazah]

LEGAL.

[bobbymalone]

beads or a tiny blade are necessary to make it a "lure".

same goes for a quickstrike rig on a tip up.

there is an old post about a two hook rig floating around somewhere in the cat forum.

[rushing]

Paint the bullhead fire tiger, glue a lip on it and add 2 treble hooks.

[mainbutter]

LEGAL.

Not in Minnesota, if it is only two bare hooks.

The only way multiple hooks are allowed are on "lures". You may add bait to a "lure".

The trick is to make a bait rig that is technically a "lure" (by adding beads and other gimmicks), but minimalistic with regards to the couple of hooks you want to attach your bullhead to.

MN-legal quickstrike rigs for ice fishing or big suckers are where you'd want to start looking.

[pushbutton]

Agree....if you want to do something like that....take some beads and a blade or a jig that is set up to fashion a quick strike rig/crawler harness and have at it....

[DTro]

Legal or Illegal?

Yep

[SteveD]

I use a 2 hook bullhead harness. If you look in the Catfishing Tricks, Tips, Pics post on the Catfish Forum you will see a Cat Tip of the Day on how to make them. We had a lengthy discussion on if it was legal or not. We got the following reply from the MN DNR which explains the legality:

There have been several questions asked about whether the Cat Bait Harness would be considered a legal rig to use on Minnesota in-land water. This question was posed to the Minnesota DNR and their response indicates the rig would not be challenged by a Conservation Officer. There is a rule change in process that would make the 2-hook rig legal - sounds like that language is in the same package with the bullhead rule change. Here is the DNR's e-mail response:

From: Pat Watts <>

To: merkman <>

Sent: Monday, August 17, 2009 9:44:38 AM

Subject: Re: Legal or illegal?

You are correct that the current statute language would not allow either rig to be used. However, these are fairly common configurations used for angling that are generally not causing problems.

With that in mind, DNR started a permanent rule package in process in about 2006 that would clearly allow up to three single or multiple hooks that are either inserted into live bait or within three inches of the live bait. Only one live bait could be used on a line. Live bait would include bait that is alive, dead, or preserved. That rule package would also allow one additional single or multiple hook when the additional hook is within three inches of an artificial bait. Artificial bait would include jugs, artificial flies, and flashing spoons. Quick strike rigs and stinger hook arrangements meeting these requirements could be used.

Originally, we thought that rule change would be completed in 2007, but some of the changes in the rule package have been more controversial than originally anticipated, and is taking more time to get through all the legal processes.

While this 3-inch rule language has not yet been adopted, it is a standard that our officers have been working with in the interim, and is acceptable for anglers to use.

Pat Watts, DNR Enforcement Division, St Paul MN

[aanderud]

Only one live bait could be used on a line. Live bait would include bait that is alive, dead, or preserved.

Dang, I never caught that line the first time through. Thanks for reposting it. While this is part of the multi-hook regulations, if taken as written here, this also precludes me from putting 2 live baits on ONE hook -- for instance, my ever popular dual-bullhead-on-one-hook rig. I tail hook one bully and lip hook another and let them flop around like crazy. So far I've caught 1 sheephead and 1 flathead this way.

On a more serious/realistic note, what about the crawler/fathead/crawler sandwiches I use when sturgeon fishing? Or throwing multiple crawlers onto one hook in a big gob?