Smelt, how do you catch them?

[2FishinBuddies]

I've tried everything I can think of. The ones I can see just under the ice are 3 maybe 4". I manage to get a few of them but can't get anything deeper. Any advice greatly appreciated

[mudchuck]

1" hali jig tipped with a small piece of smelt flesh, or a couple of maggots. Use the lightest ultralight ice rod you have with 2# test.
A flasher helps to see what depth they're stacked up the thickest at, and a green glow light if fishing after dark works great too.
Good luck!

[koissu]

1" hali jig tipped with a small piece of smelt flesh, or a couple of maggots. Use the lightest ultralight ice rod you have with 2# test.
A flasher helps to see what depth they're stacked up the thickest at, and a green glow light if fishing after dark works great too.
Good luck!

X2. I've tried small tungsten jigs but they tend to get off the hook when reeling in. Hali works best. It's a very light bite and takes some experience to get used to. If it is cold or windy, shivering/wind doesn't help see or feel the bite.

[Icemanvt]

Rest your fishing rod on a bucket.  Helps to see the slightest bite especially if their not very aggressive.

[2FishinBuddies]

Ive been using hali tipped with maggot. Spent past 2 nights jigging got 23. One 8" the rest 3-4. Resting rods was best but I still had trouble with getting the to take the bait.

[2FishinBuddies]

I'm sure my line is not 2lb. I think it may be 4 or even 6 on the one rod