Yes, but the fish still have to willingly take the bait. Doesn't matter what the bait is, its still going into there mouth. Hook placement should be irrelevant as long its on the mouth. The intent of trout beads is to save the fish for C&R by them not taking it deep. People using these are not intentionally snagging fish, but trying to entice them to bite the bait.

Either way, I only use them on the hook/tube as part of a egg sucking leech or minnow.

""It's a legal device elsewhere, but illegal here," said Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission assistant northwest regional law enforcement supervisor Tom Tarkowski. "Trout beads hook fish on the outside of the mouth and, in Pennsylvania, any fish not hooked on the inside of the mouth has to be released."
The device works by attracting a fish to a salmon egg imitation on a line several inches above a hook. When the fish eats the bead and the angler jerks the line, the hook snares the fish on the outside of his jaw."

This guy obviously has NO clue or has NEVER even used or tried the method....first off, he is completely wrong by stating the bead is "several" inches above the hook. Everyone that I know and nearly everyone who uses the method in NY attaches the bead NO further than 2 inches....2 inches is far from several! In NY where the snagging laws are more stringent than in PA, the method IS perfectly legal as it is here according to way the laws are written. Second, I don't know about any of you that bash a method before you've seen it in action first hand, but not ONE of the fish I caught on beads last season was hooked on the "outside" of the mouth. However, most every ONE hooked on the inside corner of the mouth.

The act of "snagging" - •It Is a common term used to describe a method of fishing that entails catching a fish using bait/hook without the fish having to bite it. Thats the "intentional" way of snagging....we all know that when a fish is unintentionally snagged, it must immediately be returned back to the wild. Bead fishermen are NOT intentionally snagging fish since the fish goes after the egg imitation and if the fish does that, and the hook is imbedded on the inside of the fishes mouth; it is a perfectly legal method. IMO no different than drifting a nymph or fly!!

For the record, I have always preferred to attach my bead just about 1 inch to 1.5 inches from the hook. A deadly method I'll continue to use until this communistwealth tells me it is illegal specifically in the rule books.

I make my moe eggs the same way as Ironhead describes, but I add a drop of superglue right where the hook and melted bead meet. This helps hold it on for sure. You can also make egg clusters by heating the beads till they just start to melt, then press it onto another bead & repeat.Soon you have an cluster of melted beads that resemble an hunk of skein or an egg sack. Tie on a little white veil material and presto , milky egg cluster. Don't fish them all the time, but if you fish sacks & run out of sacks, nice to have as a back-up.

Below is the most recent copy of the section of the PA Administrative Code dealing with the snagging of fish. I suppose reasonable minds could differ on the interpretation of the language but I don't see how it makes the use of trout beads unlawful.



PENNSYLVANIA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Codes
Copyright (c) 2010 Pennsylvania Legislative Reference Bureau.
All rights reserved.

*** THIS DOCUMENT IS CURRENT THROUGH THE SEPTEMBER 2010 SUPPLEMENT ***
*** Changes effective through 40 Pa.B. 3932 (July 10, 2010) ***

TITLE 58. RECREATION
PART II. FISH AND BOAT COMMISSION
SUBPART B. FISHING
CHAPTER 63. GENERAL FISHING REGULATIONS

58 Pa. Code ß 63.9 (2010)

ß 63.9. Snatch fishing, foul hooking and snag fishing

(a) It is unlawful to take or attempt to take fish by the methods known as snatch fishing, foul hooking or snag fishing or to take or attempt to take fish with a snagging hook or device which may be used to capture the fish by engaging the device in, to, with, or around any part of the body of the fish. In addition, it is unlawful to possess a snagging hook while in the act of fishing. A snagging hook is a fishing device that is designed or modified to facilitate the snagging of fish. It is either of the following:
(1) A hook with other than a single barb which is weighted on the shank at any point below the eye of the hook and above the barbs thereof.
(2) A hook that is otherwise designed or modified so as to make the snagging of fish more likely when it is used than if a normal hook or fishing device were used.
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) may be construed to prohibit the use of long bow, crossbow, spear and gigs as pro-vided in ß 63.8 (relating to long bows, crossbows, spears and gigs) or other net or devices specifically authorized by law or this subpart.

SOURCE:
The provisions of this ß 63.9 adopted January 23, 1981, effective January 24, 1981, 11 Pa.B. 422; reserved March 5, 1982, effective March 6, 1982, 12 Pa.B. 870; amended January 6, 1984, effective January 7, 1984, 14 Pa.B. 46; amended April 10, 2009, effective April 11, 2009, 39 Pa.B. 1859. Immediately preceding text appears at serial page (325055).

NOTES:

Cross References
This section cited in 58 Pa. Code ß 63.21 (relating to designation of fishing regulations).