how many lines?

[smeltinfool]

im from maine, was just wondering ....how many lines are you guys allowed to fish with through the ice?  in maine we can use up to 5 tip-ups on most lakes...just curious

[fishermanjake]

just two with a few exceptions.  On illegally stocked pike lakes,  5 lines can be used.  Also, on some lakes 5 lines can be set for burbot, and 15 on some rivers.

[smeltinfool]

hey, thanks for the info.  we have some illegally stocked pike in some maine waters as well as muskellunge and bass.  we do most of our ice fishing for landlocked salmon, brook trout, lake trout(togue) and smelts.  
are most of the waters you fish in stocked, or are there a lot of lakes with high native fish populations?  also, do you sportfish for smelt or whitefish?
sorry for all the questions, im just curious.  i'm thinking about moving to alaska when i graduate from college (wildlife ecology major, fisheries minor) and im trying to learn as much as i can.  thanks a lot

[fishermanjake]

no smelt fishing here, but there are whitefish.  I've been on the trail of some whitefish but they are tough to figure out because not alot of people fish for them.  It really all depends where you fish.  Smaller landlocked lakes are often stocked.  Larger lakes that have rivers or creeks going through are predominately wild.  If you get off the road system though, most everything is wild with a few exceptions

[alaskanman]

there are tons of smelt in the rivers here in southwest, i snagged one fishing for trout last week, kept feeling a bump till i got one.  if you don't want to use a net or regular spoon flies work great in the fall when the smelt first show up!  every river and lake has their native populations of fish in this area.

[alaskanman]

hey fishermanjake, when you figure out the whitefish post your tips!  i've caught a couple in the summer with single eggs on j hooks, but never in the winter.

[fishermanjake]

sorry i meant there isn't a sport fishery for smelt here...they run up the kenai in late spring as well...also we get big runs of hooligan up turnagin arm

[smeltinfool]

hey, thanks again.
when you say smelts run up the river i assume these are ocean smelts, right?  so landlocked smelt populations probably dont exist there? and that would be why there isnt really a sport fishery for them?

[fishermanjake]

yep thats the case

[LoveIce]

you need to chum for white fish it helps  3 cups cooked rice 3 cans of cheapsardins in oil and put 1pound of beaf liver in a food pro, and wip up the liver to a past in a big jar mik rice sardines and oil and liver  put in fridge 3 days awsome they think the rice is bug larvy and it smels like blood and fish jug with a small hook 14 a little peace of liver on the hook us a small pimpal and a 6 inch droper to the small hook fish on the bottom we kill like this

[Barleydog]

Loveice,  That's an interesting recipe!!!  It's worth a try, but your not kidding when you said they are bitting on liver right?

[vttroutman]

smeltinfool, where do you go to school in Maine? I am also a Wildlife major (In Vermont). I am also planning on heading to Alaska to check it out. I will be there this summer looking for work and also big fish. Good luck to you.