MyFishFinder.com Just like iceshanty but warmer
In WI you have to be careful of the VHS regs and how to properly preserve your dead bait. Unfortunately this caused smelt to be harder to find at bait shops because they didn't want to deal with the stuff. Since many places didn't sell a lot of it they simply stopped selling it. Those that do are charging an arm and a leg for it and it's harder to find the nice big ones like we could in years past. So.....check local grocery stores. Some will sell whole smelt of decent size and then you have to keep them preserved yourself. Salting, soaking in mineral oil, etc. Another place to check is at Asian grocery stores and pick up Scads, Mackerel, or anything else around the size you want to use. They'll work just as well.