IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
IceShanty Main => General Ice Fishing Chit Chat => Topic started by: Pasquatch on Jan 02, 2004, 07:42 AM
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Ok, i know there's a lot of threads on this, but how deep are smelt,where in the water column and what baits do we use for these baitfish? Do Hali's work?
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You mean there still some left? We smelt fish every spring, when they run. We net them here in Wisconsin. In the river, creeks or lake michagan.Havn't had a good run in ten years.DNR playing God is my though.
Redneck
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Smelts are everywhere in the column. Start on bottom and jig your way up. The lighter your set up the better and yes lures do work and 9 times out of 10 they will trigger smelts into a feeding frenzee. You can bring a school of smelts from the bottom to the top by stopping your bait just above the spot you caught your last smelt, do this and smelting will get easier. Talk to locals and find out where they have caught some in the past and start there. Use your electronics, as they are everywhere. An old saying says "to ketch a smelt you use a smelt". Tiny pieces of cut smelt on a 10 hook. Dropper hooks are very effective when using lures.
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I fish at night for them. I use an underwater light, hali's jig tipped with waxworm. They are in the entire water column, sometimes it looks like a cloud of fish under the light.
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They are all over the water column. Top to bottom. My buddies might be catching them 20 feet below the ice, and I'll be catching them 10 feet below the ice, and sitting 5 feet away from them. Smelt seem to be in abundance in the lakes that have Trout in them. The Browns just love them. I've had the most success using a Firestick glow stick from Northland tackle co. Just attach it to your jighead after activating it. It will last for 5-6 hours or so. I've also had success with glow teardrops with waxworms. Bring something with a bluelight to recharge them. Or a lantern will work in a pinch too........... whitey.....
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do you ever find smelt in any number that you find emeralds?
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Anybody catch smelt in NE WI? I've never heard of ice fishing for smelt, but would love to give it a try. No way they're getting used for bait though. Those little buggers would hit the deep fryer still twitching.
kerosene
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HOLLIS,ME AND MY BRO. WENT OUT JAN.1TO3 GOT 14 DOZ.SMELT TOTAL.U BET YOU CAN CATCH THEM IN LARGE AMOUNTS.THEY ARE THE BEST EATING FISH IVE EVER TASTED!I USE 3 HOOK RIGS AND HAVE GOTTEN 3 AT A TIME WHEN THEY ARE BITTING GOOD. GREAT FUN ESP. FOR KIDS+WOMEN.LET THEM CATCH YOUR BAIT FOR YOU WHILE YOU RUN THE TIP-UPS.
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Kerosene: You should be able to find smelt in about any deep lake connected to lake Michigan, that how it is here in Mich. Also several other inland lakes that are clear, cold and deep. Usually lakes with trout. They are great eating but good bait too.
Mike
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I know that they are in the lake im fishing, there are millions of them. What kind of bait?? How deep? I know you need a sensitive rod
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what lake are u fishing?
you might want to start by fishing the deepest spot in the lake, or try fishing near the mouth of any inlet creek fishing really shallow (3'-10'), course if you have deep water(at least 50'), that is very close to a large inlet stream, that is where your smelt will be.
...start on the bottom, and work up, i like a firetiger hali spoon tipped with a few maggots
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Try this it works great, in front of your shack drill ahole bring a car battery and a car head lite wire the lite to shine on high and low beem put the lite in the hole it will float and light it up .the smelts will come to the light at night last week we got 200 smelts in 3 hours 2 lines in Maine
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Big Red, I'm fishing George, up near Hague.
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ok FYI, until a few years ago it was illegal to fish or posses smelt on lake george, but a changing in the wording of the regs has opened a loophole...it now says "use or possestion as bait prohibited"
the "as bait" was never in there before...most people still dont know that it is legal to fish them, including DEC, so bring along your regs book.
anyways
i would try the 90'-100' depths right in front of hague brook...and if that doesnt work, fish your way up the drop off going right at the creek, right up into shallow water...just be carefull, the creek does eat at the ice a little. the smelt are out there somewhere. That is where i would fish
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What about the hump that rises to 40 feet of water from 180?
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ive always caught perch and lakers there, never too many smelt
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I know that the brackish smelt are at Corks Cove smelt camp in Maine tel. #737-8856 . My brother-in-law and I caught over 300 on the 18th. Lots of fun
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Oh yeah, and just to let you know, now that I have the Vex., that on one smaller lake, the Smelt are ALL OVER in the water colum, but in one of the bigger lakes, they held tight to the bottom. I do not know why this is, but where they held to the bottom, there were Lakers present. This was in swallow water too. Maybe they did'nt want to become lunch.
Mike
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Just got in got alot of smelt agian try the car light man.
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Using light may not be legal everywhere. It definitely wouldn't
be legal in Ontario.
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Another batch just got in (light)
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I fish them all the time. I use an underwater light down 15-30'. Hali tipped w/ wax worm. Ihave caught them from 65' all the way up to my hole sight fish'n them. They are great fun. I use two noodle rods and can hardly keep up w/ them most of the time I catch 100-135 of the little buggers a night. The action is so intense sometimes you have to leave your lines out of the water for a second just to have a sip off your beer. I can sometimes catch as many as 20 smelt on the same waxy!