Northwest Fishing Reports

I have caught many trout in the last several years, and many of them, once cut open, have copius amounts of powerbait in their stomachs. This makes me wonder, if a trout steals the power bait/ eggs off of my hook, will it be able to digest it, or, will it in turn kill the trout? Just something to ponder.

Beerman

It's my understanding that Power Bait is made of totally digestible materials. The main attractant is the scent made from the same food that is fed to trout at the hatcheries. They are accustomed to the taste and as such are very easy to catch on Power Bait when first released. As far as digestibility is concerned, try some and let us know. No, No, No, try scrambled eggs instead. o:) o:) o:)

My assumption would be that is it not generally harmful to the fish.
As widely as powerbait is used for trout in this state, I'm sure we'd hard regulations against it's use (if it were harmful/non-digestible).

But then again...you know what they say about assumptions.

Come to think of it...doesn't it say not for human or pet consumption right on the jar?

Yes power bait is totally digestable to fish (of course your brother Earl is another subject). TTFN

Cheers

Good question, and I don't know if it has nutritional value, but it passes through their system just fine. We had a stock tank back on the farm when this stuff first came out. We would often catch some Catfish and put them in the tank.

Instead of feeding them worms, one time I popped some power bait in and let it float around. Sure enough, the hand fed cats took it. The next day the water had the small sparkles that some power bait has in it, kind of sitting on the bottom, but the fish were fine. I did this for several days, than realized that power bait is expensive and worms were free for the digging.

I believe it would be edible ,just not pleasently tasting.I cant imagine making a bait lethal or gut wrenching knowing some kid fishing with dad might try it.Lets bring some to the picnic and try them out on other anglers.We can take photos of them eating it for documentation.Muahahaha.We'll make Powerbait Froi Grois.Pickled Power bait,Powerbait relish on the dogs and burgers.Hehehehe

racfish wrote:I believe it would be edible ,just not pleasently tasting.I cant imagine making a bait lethal or gut wrenching knowing some kid fishing with dad might try it.Lets bring some to the picnic and try them out on other anglers.We can take photos of them eating it for documentation.Muahahaha.We'll make Powerbait Froi Grois.Pickled Power bait,Powerbait relish on the dogs and burgers.Hehehehe

ROFLMAO

this is all completly different from what I've heard. I hear power eggs and bait do not get digested and will eventually kill the fish when they try to pass a 1/2" ball of dough through their digestive system. I have done some researching and have found equal amounts of people with stories to back up one or the other. I could not find actual scientific findings to support one or the other.

I have powerbait containers that are brand new and others that are 10 years old and made of glass, both only warn of human or pet consumption, and do not detail what happens to the fish. their web site does not go into detail about the subject either.

gian wrote:this is all completly different from what I've heard. I hear power eggs and bait do not get digested and will eventually kill the fish when they try to pass a 1/2" ball of dough through their digestive system. I have done some researching and have found equal amounts of people with stories to back up one or the other. I could not find actual scientific findings to support one or the other.

I have powerbait containers that are brand new and others that are 10 years old and made of glass, both only warn of human or pet consumption, and do not detail what happens to the fish. their web site does not go into detail about the subject either.

I've caught several fish with a leader and a swivel hanging out of their mouths and connected to it a hook with a power egg hanging out its butt so, no they don't digest, but it wont "Kill" the fish necessarily.

i think its not digested but it passes through them- Think corn:-s

this has got to be the funniest thread ever

gian wrote:this is all completly different from what I've heard. I hear power eggs and bait do not get digested and will eventually kill the fish when they try to pass a 1/2" ball of dough through their digestive system. I have done some researching and have found equal amounts of people with stories to back up one or the other. I could not find actual scientific findings to support one or the other.

I have powerbait containers that are brand new and others that are 10 years old and made of glass, both only warn of human or pet consumption, and do not detail what happens to the fish. their web site does not go into detail about the subject either.

LOL - Ya, I know what you mean, the world was once flat, and all you had to do was ask everyone about it. Then some fool came along and proved it was not.

I suppose that we can offer our experiences, but without scientific research, we cannot prove one way or the other.

Perhaps you can set up some scientific experiments, document your results, publish on this site for a "pier review" process to review your methods and your results. Then, and only then, will any of us be able to answer the question.

I've been wondering about this same question for some time. Berkley's website, disappointingly, intentionally avoided this topic. I hope there will be some research from independent research groups on this topic.

A search on the Internet didn't turn up anything. There is one identical question posted on Answer.com but nobody answered. So I guess Berkley did a great job keeping the public in the blind so that nobody knows for sure.

But a more interesting question is: If you knew PowerBait is not digestible or even toxic to fish, would you still use it? I know I wouldn't, I'd make bait myself.

i treagered it once...

racfish wrote:I believe it would be edible ,just not pleasently tasting.I cant imagine making a bait lethal or gut wrenching knowing some kid fishing with dad might try it.Lets bring some to the picnic and try them out on other anglers.We can take photos of them eating it for documentation.Muahahaha.We'll make Powerbait Froi Grois.Pickled Power bait,Powerbait relish on the dogs and burgers.Hehehehe

I think it is probably not healthy for consumption by fish, the idea is that you keep the fish you catch with it, not release them. On the package it says "not for human or pet consumption" which leads me to believe it is not actually FOOD but is meant to catch fish. I think the "bait law" stating that if fishing for bait the legal limit is the first legal fish caught was designed as a result of prevalent powerbait usage. It encourages people to keep fish that have swallowed powerbait. Aside from being digestible/not, it is going to take up valuable real estate in the fishes stomach and digestive system and may make eating normal foods difficult or impossible.

Powerbait paste itself is mostly digestable, it's their preformed baits that include materials designed to hold the shape of the bait which tend to back the digestive system of a fish. Gulp baits are also made this way and are nothing more that plastics infused with scent and a little bit of biodegradable materials. The thing you don't want to do is to toss your spent Powerbait/Gulp products into the water, take them with you to shore and dispose of them in the trash. I've picked up several fish that had plumbing issues caused by the non paste style baits.

Worms work better anyway:-"

If youre hungry enough I bet Power Bait taste great.Depends just how starving you are. I wouldnt want to be near anyone pooping after digestion. Hehehe

wow, nothing in Wikipedia to mention. I smell a coverup. :batman: