Angling with live baitfish has been a popular fishing method among many anglers. In Arizona, the use of live baitfish encompasses approximately 59% of anglers. Non-native fish introductions have become a serious issue in many states, and live baitfish are a potential vector for these introductions. We used the native desert sucker (Catostomus clarki) and the longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster) to assess persistence on a hook compared with a non-native species, fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) when used as baitfish. The desert sucker and the longfin dace are widespread throughout Arizona and fathead minnows are the most widely available baitfish. We compared time to mortality between all three species when hooked and manipulated similar to fishing action. There were no significant differences in mortality times between species, and time to mortality was greater than one hour for most individual fish.