Hey John shuffle your feet to dislodge nymphs, etc. is also illegal in some states.

In deeper slow moving pools with mud bottoms, particularly in the lower portions of river systems, dragonfly nymphs, a.k.a mud bugs may also be present. These are large bulky nymphs. In my younger days I fished them in the lower portions of tributaries to the Allegheny River in North Central PA with outstanding results. Not relative to NY a discussion, I believe it is still legal to collect dragonfly nymphs in PA, not however from approved trout waters, maximum possession is 50.
 
PT2

Ahhhh NY. lol I love their fisheries but many of their rules suck. But hey, you cant hunt on sunday in PA, but you can pick clippers and catch creek shiners.

troutbum21
Hey John shuffle your feet to dislodge nymphs, etc. is also illegal in some states.

The infamous San Jaun shuffle.

If you dislike to the no bait from a trout stream law, you can blame Art Flick, who got the reg adopted by the legislature in the 50's in reaction to the bait dealers on the Schoharie who would throw a box spring out in the river, and come back later to retrieve, pick all the hellgrammites that had adopted the new home and leave all the caddis and mayflies to dry out in the sun.  He saw a decline in the hatch quality on the Schoharie, and the bugs returned after the mattresses were no longer out there. 
 
I know that one of the best baits for brook trout in ponds is live minnows, but I also know that nothing ruins a brook trout pond faster than  minnows becoming established and outcompeting the brookies for food. So you will never see me using a minnow in a NY pond.  The inverts are the food for the stream trout, if everybody were picking what they needed for bait, you might actually slow the growth rates on the trout you are after.
 
L13 

I used to use salamanders for brookies, but they outlawed that about 3 years ago, too.  But slugs are terrestrial, like grasshoppers, so they are legit.  Wood slugs work pretty well on Brookies.
 
L13