Stumped on smelt

[FishinDJ]

 My buddy and I have have made a few attempts at smelt this season. We can get them to show up on the flashers all night long but no bites. They'll chase the jig but won't commit..... I guess my main question is, could it be something other than smelt? Or real tiny smelt?  I've mostly been using a small Hali tipped with a spike or chunk of worm, but have experimented with swedish pimples and small jigs too. Ultralight rods, spring bobbers, etc.....Any tips would be appreciated. Gonna give it another go tomorrow night.

[tench]

Its easy to rip the hook out of their mouths. Also try to use a jig that puts a slight bend in your rod so you can see if they hit it with a lift too.

[lowaccord66]

Don't jig.  If the show up drop your rig to the appropriate depth and rest your rod on something and watch for the hits
  You may notice you're getting hits more frequently than when you were jigging.

[pokholes]

Catching smelt is a finesse thing it takes a lot of practice because the bite is so light and as mentioned often times from below. I have also noticed that using a small piece of cut smelt belly seems to increase the bite.

[Light liner]

Light rods, light line and small hooks.

[mudchuck]

Like all have said, this is a finesse situation and best to not hold the jig pole so as to see the subtle hit. a small piece of smelt on the hali hook or even a small tungsten bibbet (small is key) works. Sacrifice the 1st smelt you catch to using as cut bait.
Ultra lights with 4# test.

[Icemanvt]

If the flasher is lit up like a xmas tree, drop your line down and set it on a bucket!  watch rod tip very closely.  only jig once in a while and you can just bump the rod tip while rod is still sitting on bucket.  sounds like they are just being finicky and your missing the slightest of bites.

[Smelty88]

Did someone say SMELT??? Ultra ultra ultra light, the lighter your rod tip the better, and not all Ultra lights are equal! HT makes a Ultra light that is one of the lightest i have ever seen! probably my Favorite rod. Mine broke...  . With your super ultra light rod you can rest you rod hand on your leg and that will keep the rod nice and still, Then watch for any subtle movement in the tip. When you see it start reeling and dont stop often times it will feel like nothing is there but you will have one. I know some people like to tie two hooks into their line hali on the bottom and something above it. I Second sacrificing the first one you catch to use as bait! Good luck with the hunt!

[fishthebend]

With smelt it's all about the hook and the bait. Back in the days when Champlain used to freeze
and Shelburne Bay was a big shanty town there was a custom. If you 'borrowed' a shanty you
could always reach under the seat someplace and find a bait smelt to get you started. The custom
was that you would leave another behind. Smelt bite best on smelt. The best bait for smelt is slices
of other smelt. You need the curved hooks always referred to as Pequeas (actually the manufacturer),
and you need a flasher. Buy the hooks on leaders and use one off the bottom of the flasher and another
a foot or so above it. It's not a finesse thing; when smelt are biting they hammer your baits and you can
pull them up two at a time until they stop. They hit hard on smelt. Don't waste your time trying other
baits. It's sort of like perch fishing. They sell more crazy jigs for fishing thru the ice that the ice fishing
section looks just like the soft water fishing section at the store. You know what I couldn't find at three
different sport stores??? An eyeball scoop. Go figure. What do you think the best perch bait is??

[fishthebend]

one more thing
i can't believe all the fishing rods. Hold that monofilament in your hand and jig those smelt.
work that flasher until they come and then you'll feel them. Don't stop jigging tim you feel them
bumping your flasher. Then the fun starts. Sit down with a hole on both sides of you and a bucket
in front of you. With a jig in both hands and two fish on a line it's nothing but fun!. You aren't
going to have the smelt touch on a rod. Trust me.

[Smelty88]

Disagree! The rod i had was just as good if not better at catching them as my buddy sitting right beside me using his hands!

You aren't
going to have the smelt touch on a rod. Trust me.

[keithm87]

BS smelty I always owned you at smelting. you were the king of "damn i missed it" lol. I went out last night on joes and got into some. Little fellas are hard to get when they are 45 down

[Smelty88]

Your memory is bad!

BS smelty I always owned you at smelting. you were the king of "damn i missed it" lol. I went out last night on joes and got into some. Little fellas are hard to get when they are 45 down

[spot]

I always use a handline for smelt. It's so easy to get it right down to the correct depth every time without even thinking about it (holding the line itself between my fingertips to feel them bite), and yes, slabs of smelt are the best bait to use.

[WVBoy]

Don't jig.  If the show up drop your rig to the appropriate depth and rest your rod on something and watch for the hits
  You may notice you're getting hits more frequently than when you were jigging.

What he said..

[Pike Panther]

I always did better with a little lighter line like 6-10 pound and a heavier sinker...2 oz or flasher.  They love the action.  jig the crap out of your line then let them sit for 10 second or so, set the hook because 1/2 the time you never feel a bite.. they are just there when you set the hood.  Repeat the process.  They are typically near the surface the first hour of the day and in the evening/dark.  The rest of the day they are mostly down towards bottom but may be suspended.  Keep changing depth til you find some.  Good luck.  I miss the old days on Champlain...So much fun.

[shiveringjoe]

The super cheap "riversider" rods are great for smelt, they are as sensitive as you can get and like $7. I learned from a shanty member to set my rod on a bucket and just watch the tip, definitely helps detect light bites. I run 1lb line and obviously have no problems with break offs... Need to get out soon and catch some smelt!

[pwicefisher]

I've noticed that if you can thread your bait up your hook so the point is sticking out of the bottom of whatever kind of meat/attractant you hook way more which makes sense. I always use the gulp maggots. Also, a slower lift/hookset when you er a bite seems to hook more fish in my experience. Definitely let the rod sit on a buck so you can see the bites

[FishinDJ]

Thanks for all the good tips everyone. Finally started to figure the little buggers out tonight. It was slow and only managed to catch about a dozen but I can't wait to get into them again.

[troutcrazy]

OOh thats a biggie.  I've been catching little tiny ones.  They're quite tasty, though!

[BRES57]

BOMO SMELT ? OR ANOTHER LAKE ? THANKS FOR INFO

[802clamjammer]

Those look like good sized ones. I too have only been catching little little ones. Where those pigs coming from?

[rbobby]

Look like either bomo or salem. That's a nice smelt.