Anyone Ever Tried GoldFish for Walleye Fishing?

[TroutYammer]

A local pet store is selling 1"-2.5" Gold fish for $0.12 per...that comes to about $1.20 per dozen. That is much cheaper than silver shiners, golden shiners or even fatheads. Anybody ever use goldfish for walleye fishing or other gamefish species?

[mrpike1973]

i believe it's illegal. not sure. but fun dogs work great for pike

[TroutYammer]

What is a fun dog?

[mtbucket]

It is definitely illegal in Minnesota.

From the MN Fishing regulations:

"Using whole or parts of game fish, goldfish, or carp for bait is unlawful."

[Bigtom]

that would be a hot dog, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hot dog!!! AKA "the Fun Dog"

[mrklean]

I don't think you can even call them hot dogs there imatation hot dogs

[smeese]

LOL I was tempted to use this huge Koi my friend has for Musky fishing one time when I could not find suckers anywheres, but after contimplating it just was not worth the risk IMO.....Tinsel Tails work better anyways

[motley man]

I remember years ago that Crystal Lake in Crystal had some huge goldfish in it that someone had put in it, and they multiplied. Don't know if they are still there. They were HUGE.

[reinhard1]

i agree. except for a couple of brands, skinnless dogs never enter my grocery cart [but may be put on a quick strike rig ]. as for goldfish, yes they are illegal. however some bait shops sell orange fatheads. good luck.

[Deitz Dittrich]

as stated gold fish are illegal to use as bait.. However some bait shops sell "Ruby Red" minnows which are orange colord crappie minnows..

[LindellProStaf]

When I was a kid, a long time ago we tried them. We were so excited. We thought we had the perfect bait. We had orange ones and black and white ones. Thought we would nail the walleyes on opener on Lake Hendricks. Couldn't even sleep the night before we were so excited. Well we drove up there got a great camping spot threw our lines out and never got a bite in 2 days and nights. What a dissapointment. Never tried it again. Then we found out it was illegal anyways...

[Gordie]

as stated gold fish are illegal to use as bait.. However some bait shops sell "Ruby Red" minnows which are orange colord crappie minnows..

Forgot about those DD they can really turn the bite around.

[mrklean]

Those ruby reds are awesome if you can find them had great luck on crappies with them

[TroutYammer]

Wow! Thank you for the information. Now that I know they are illegal I'm not gonna even try!

Once again! Thanks for the information!

[Bulldoggr]

My Brother used to use Food Coloring dye, and Dye his silver shiners the color he wanted.

[nofishfisherman]

I also tried them when I was maybe 15, back before I realized it was illegal. My friend and i also thought they would be the perfect bait for almost any predator fish. We only tried them once but we didn't get a single bite on them. Never tried it again.

[Al.Wichman]

It is illeagal in Wisconsin as well not sure if these are the same thing but here we get rosie reds same build as a fathead but can range in color from light pink to almost as orange as a goldfish