Dead Bait Fishing for Pike

[tweedwolfscream]

(12-18-2013 04:04 PM)OldTimer Wrote:  Careful - use of smelt as bait, alive or dead, is illegal in many MNR Ontario zones....check the regs...... and smelt are readily available in many of the grocery stores..... heads up!

OT

The MNR fact sheet on smelt says, "Dead rainbow smelt may be used as bait in Ontario except in Fisheries Management Zones 2, 4 and 5". This policy is made plain in the FMZ 2, 4 and 5 sections in the regs summary, under "Other Zone _ Regulations", as "Smelt may not be used as bait or possessed for use as bait". I wish I could say I'll be fishing northwestern Ontario in the near future but the reality is more like the GTA and Grey County.

So, are there any restrictions on fish as dead bait that are not clearly stated in the regs?

(I got 10 whole frozen mackarel for like $3.50 at Food Basics yesterday, each maybe 6-8 inches long, so that'll probably be my first attempt with the pike.)