You will find hard-liners on both sides of this debate. On any given day, bait is probably the most effective bait you can use. I use it almost exclusively for steelhead....salmon eggs being the number 1 choice.

Some feel fish are much more likely to swallow bait thus causing bleeding in or around the gills and that this is bad in catch and release fisheries....that's why bait bans are sometimes in effect on catch and release waters.

I also know that that is partially a cop-out because any given lure can be lethal to a fish. For example, I have landed fish that swallowed spoons and spinners...try retrieving those and maintaining a healthy fish. I have seen plug-caught fish where both sets of treble hooks were inside the mouth thus clamping the fishes mouth shut or one set of hooks wrapped around the gill plate causing severe bleeding.

The point is any lure can and will harm fish from time to time...nothing is 100%.

As for myself, I will continue to fish bait as my #1 choice where legal to do so.

P.S. 95% of the fish I catch DON'T swallow the bait...part of the reason is knowing when to set the hook.