So in our neighborhood we’ve got a few ponds, only one of which we are “legally” allowed to fish.  
 

I happened to stumble on a couple of boxes this fellow has tied to a community dock and dropped in. 
 

what would you do in that situation? My kids love catching bluegill over there,

not to mention it’s a food source, so im

not particularly crazy about somebody taking fish to go roll around with a bunch of slimy catfish (to each their own), or whatever other nonsense they are attempted to do. 
 

thoughts? 

What's the purpose of the bait box? Does it capture bait or bigger fish?

Thats a bait trap, similar to what we have used to catch small baitfish for crappie, pike, walleye and/or cat fishing, depending on what your target species is.

 

It’s a nicely made small trap so I’d just leave it be.

 

His type of fishing is different than your’s but it doesn’t make it wrong. Seems he is catching his bait is instead of buying it and it’s not interfering with the kids crappie/bluegill fishing.

As you said, to each their own.

You might check your state regulations and see if it is legal.  If it is my advice is leave it alone.  If it is not legal you can always report it.

For personal use they are legal in Mississippi, as well as most other states. For commercial use they must be licensed.

^ Ya - but Minnesota has regs on how many, spacing, what size (mesh and opening size as well as overall size)....so while legal, the laws vary on details.

 

There's also regs on use of the caught bait. Can only be used in the waters in which they're caught, and when you're done for the day, they have to be tossed or preserved (alcohol, freezing)...no returning them to the water.

But it’s still legal……..and he’s in Mississippi.

Trapping bait out of a pond to me seems wrong but to each their own assuming it's legal.

^ ?  You're just using what they hunt anyway, and giving them a bit easier time of it. Around here it's almost a tradition to catch your own bait.

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

^ ?  You're just using what they hunt anyway, and giving them a bit easier time of it. Around here it's almost a tradition to catch your own bait.

 

To me a pond is much smaller and confined.

 

So taking a bunch of forage out can have a more negative impact on the overall ecosystem of the pond.

 

JMO

^ True that - and just like MN, IA doesn't let you return the unused portion to the water...have to dump/preserve them. (Just looked that up)

38 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

and just like MN, IA doesn't let you return the unused portion to the water...

 

Yeah makes sense.

 

Those little things swimming around in your bait bucket could be Asian carp or who knows what.

 

There are some bodies of water that will never be "normal" again.   

When I was a kid I caught bream with my grandfather from his ponds using a 30 ft sane.  We used them to bait trot lines.  I was with him when he released about a dozen leftovers into a new pond on his farm.   Two years later the pond was full of bream that we were catching for bait.  
 

Lesson learned - you can’t come close to affecting the bream population in a pond by catching them for bait.   They multiply extremely fast.

^ Long as they're legal for bait - can't use them in MN.

2 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

When I was a kid I caught bream with my grandfather from his ponds using a 30 ft sane.  We used them to bait trot lines.  I was with him when he released about a dozen leftovers into a new pond on his farm.   Two years later the pond was full of bream that we were catching for bait.  
 

Lesson learned - you can’t come close to affecting the bream population in a pond by catching them for bait.   They multiply extremely fast.

Good to know, I didn't know at. My grandfather spent more time making me drive him around in his 1980 5 speed s-10 when I was 10 or so. That would have been something he would have taught me, but I would have def missed it due to the panic and fear into driving. 

On 10/29/2025 at 10:52 AM, Jig Man said:

You might check your state regulations and see if it is legal.  If it is my advice is leave it alone.  If it is not legal you can always report it.

He may have broken the law by pulling it out, photographing, and otherwise disturbing someone's trap. Check the regs 

Ya - disturbing someone else's trap is a BIG no-no anywhere I know of.