baitfish receipt rules, does this make any sense?

Does anyone know for sure why residents who buy baitfish to use in their own BMZ do not need to have a receipt but others visiting need to have a receipt? I mean someone who actually knows, has spoken with a CO, MNR, etc. the reason for this. I actually have been keeping the receipts when I buy and use minnows even within my BMZ.

It would be redundant for a CO to ask an angler fishing in their home BMZ for a bait receipt. It's just in the regulations for continuity. Visitors require a bait receipt, residents do not. That's a good question, regulations seem overly specific sometimes and sometimes not specific enough. Never a bad idea to ask, hope that answers your question.

Thanks. Yes, that makes sense if the assumption is that the bait fish were purchased within the BMZ. So now a CO would have to assume this is the case as there is no need to show a receipt of where the baitfish were obtained? Also a problem in the situations where residents get bait fish from friends/family, etc. coming up to the "cottage", etc., then how would the CO know if the residents bought the bait fish from the same BMZ or were given them by friends/family? Because a large number of the emerald shiners (what many bait stores sell regardless of BMZ, esp. in the southern parts of Ontario) come from Lake Erie, then how would e COs know if the emerald shiners used by a resident actually came from a store operating within a BMZ. Anyway, as I mentioned before, I just don't understand why the rules are the way they are IF the reason is to stop invasive species from spreading...better just to ban the use of any species that may result in invasive species spreading instead of making up a bunch of rules that just don't seem to help the issues. My two cents.

this is so stupid, we go to my buddies dads place for walleye opener every year, his dad traps minnows for us but being a senior citizen he can only be on the boat for so long and we often drop him off on shore, does that mean we have to remove all the bait if he is not on the boat?

if i read this right we cant even use any of the bait he traps, he is the only one that can use this bait since its his BMZ

For sure, this was one of the issues I had with the bait fish rule. I use to fish the Barrie marina area and use to scoop up tons of emerald shiners to use for perch. But now that I don't live in the BMZ, I can't do that anymore and have to buy minnows (and have a receipt to prove it) while someone right beside me can net the minnows to use. And it also sounds like I can't even use the minnows caught by someone who is a resident and fishing beside me (even if a friend/family member). And it also doesn't make sense that minnows caught right in front of you in that situation shouldn't be released back into the lake. I think alot more work is needed on bait fish rules. It's just so complicated now that enforcement is going to be a serious problem. Can't wait to be stopped for a license check by a CO to chat about how things are going with bait fish rule enforcement....I think I may get some eye rolls

For sure, this was one of the issues I had with the bait fish rule. I use to fish the Barrie marina area and use to scoop up tons of emerald shiners to use for perch. But now that I don't live in the BMZ, I can't do that anymore and have to buy minnows (and have a receipt to prove it) while someone right beside me can net the minnows to use. And it also sounds like I can't even use the minnows caught by someone who is a resident and fishing beside me (even if a friend/family member). And it also doesn't make sense that minnows caught right in front of you in that situation shouldn't be released back into the lake. I think alot more work is needed on bait fish rules. It's just so complicated now that enforcement is going to be a serious problem. Can't wait to be stopped for a license check by a CO to chat about how things are going with bait fish rule enforcement....I think I may get some eye rolls

You do have some very good points and it would seem like the rules were made by someone from another planet.

So did I break the law when a Stanger offered me bait yesterday? Took a handful from him maybe 8 minnows. Never used them so maybe only half the law was broken ? This is wacked ..

What if your all local can you share bait with your local friends? But if my friend comes from Toronto to Simcoe he can't use my bait . Sounds fishy

Well thanks for posting that. I did not know this rule, and lucky does not apply to me, since I stopped using minnows years ago when all these new rules came out. I have used artifcials that imitate minnows for some time now.

I did know you need to keep your reciept, but didn't know, it wasn't required if you live in the area. How does a CO know the minnows you have are from your local area?? I guess they have this clause since we are allowed to trap 120 minnows for use in our area (correct me if wrong-sorry I haven't read these reg sections, as I said - i stopped using minnows.)

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this is a push to end the use of minnows as bait for all. This has been a big hit to small local bait & tackle shops all over.

FYI in the back country there used to be self-serve bait shops, little shacks, you walk in scoop your minnows and leave money in a can. Can you imagine? Worked fine for years as long as only a certain group of honest folk knew about it..

Invading species is and has been a big problem, and I guess this is one solution.

Cheers & Happy fishing.

I also believe this is the long term intention.

looking into this further we will be ok since our primary residence is located in the same BMZ (Southern) zone. So if you live in Mississauga / Toronto you do not have to have a receipt on Simcoe since you are still in your primary BMZ (Southern) but if you fish Perry Sound you do as that is the (central) BMZ

Receipts are not required when an angler is using baitfish or leeches:

in the BMZ where their primary residence is located

Same thing here. I rarely ever use live bait anymore but when I have friends/family come and almost all are not too experienced with fishing, then I usually tell them to pick up some minnows...and they have never been anything but emerald shiners (with the exception of the odd one that got mixed in for some reason). And as far as I know none of the lakes around me have emerald shiners as a native species (meaning, the rules are allowing the use of a potentially invasive species in these lakes). And from my chats with bait sellers, most get their emerald shiners from either a Simcoe harvester or Erie harvester (and usually Erie as some years Simcoe's harvest can be a bit low).
So for sure, the emerald are not from the area. However, a local bait shop within my BMZ sells emerald shiners from Erie (I use to keep the receipts because I also wasn't aware that I did not have to until this year when I decided to re-read the regs) so I can't imagine how a CO would be able to tell if the emerald shiners I bought locally (without a receipt) are any different from emerald shiners bought from a vendor from a neighbouring BMZ (taken to court, I suspect they will need to have DNA evidence and even then, that won't help if both sellers were getting their minnows from Erie).
I have trapped minnows (throughout the non-ice periods) around my home and very different kinds of minnows.
I remember those scoop-your-own outfits. They were sometimes great and sometimes, the bait were not quite "lively" at all
In the end, to reduce invasives, I would for sure favour a total ban on using live minnows (with the exception of some lakes where it really doesn't matter anymore because they are unlikely to do anything with the invasives)...and these should be the exceptions rather than general rules.
Once live minnows/leeches are banned, I think fishing with artificials will get even better (may take a few years but in the end it will all be better).

I think you are correct. If you live the GTA, you are in the same BMZ as Simcoe and all the way up to Muskoka I believe it is. And if you fish Parry Sound, I think you can't buy minnows from another BMZ and bring them up there even if you have a receipt. You need to buy from a seller within the BMZ you are fishing.

That's why I think these rules need alot more work. Fishy is right but rotten fishy

The original intent of the zones was probalby based on some valid information, but by the time the concept is put forth and the legal system applies changes to the final product.ie the regs IT often turns out to be a nightmare

I do not agree to go with a total ban on baitfish if that is the end game.....this has been going on for decades


Invasive species are already in most of the larger waters and ya that is a concern, but that's been happening since the seaway opened up


myself I think some of the stuff that has been identified here is just plain dumb.....ie releasing minnows back into same water body they were caught in to name on

I have more, but that's enough for 1 post

Maybe the people that made up these rules also made up the new rules for restricted firearms.