Smelt for Lakers

[JMailbox8]

I jigged up some smelt for laker tip up fishing on Caspian tomorrow, but they are are large ones. Do lakers care about size? What are folks' success with live or dead smelt?

[Fish Farmer]

20 years ago folks would use the big "jack" smelt for laker bait as well as large suckers on Champlain.

[BlackDucksAndBrownDogs]

Elephants eat peanuts, but if I'm targeting a big laker, I'll rig the biggest bait I have and expect fewer bites.

A 5" smelt will catch any salmonid, and they are durable. 

If I have enough to sort, I consider smaller baits (say 4") "salmon candy." 

Any dead bait is effective on lakers, but a dead smelt is money.

[JMailbox8]

So large smelt is better dead than live on a tip up?

[woodyvt]

I used to fish for lakers all the time and always had best luck with dead smelt on the bottom. No sinkers at all. Made for a slow set up especially in deeper water, but worth it.

Good luck and let us know how you make out.

[thefishingweatherman]

I had an old guy tell me once that his friend caught monster lakers on medium sized suckers on tip-ups, like in the 10 inch range. So, I would make sense that they wouldn't care about the size of a smelt, since they run smaller (aside from the Jack Smelt - mentioned above).

[JMailbox8]

Thanks for the help folks! Hit Caspian today with a friend. Landed a dozen Lakers with the biggest being 24 inches. Equal numbers jigging to tip ups. They were biting everything whether it was big, small, dead or alive. Didn't matter. The biggest issue was hook ups with the bigger bait. Missed a ton of flags with running spools. Definitely better to have two sets of hooks in the bigger bait, in case a smaller fish grabs it.

[Light liner]

Sounds like a great day, good for you.
We were out there yesterday too.
We were perch fishing but we ended up getting 3 lakers on perch minnows.

[fishingidjit]

You need to have somone show you how to 'lace up" your bait with a double hook.Also don't be in hurry to grab your line to set the hook,let them run until they have stopped spooling your reel Sometimes there will be 3-4 good spurts before they stop to eat your bait.

[Roughneck20]

Where is the best place to find smelt on a lake? I've always tried at the mouth of streams but never have much luck. I even tried 12v LED green light at night...

[Dirt23]

Fish vt and nh smelt seem to be different in most places . My local pond catch them in 35 foot basin usually suspended from 10 to 25 feet. Northeast kingdom find them in shallows on a Sandy bottom. The green light helps after dark for sure.  Electronics make them easier to find if that is an option.  Couple spikes on a hali is go-to smelt lure for me.

[Roughneck20]

Thank you

[TRT]

I've caught smelt in a foot of water just to the right of the boat access, don't be surprised by all the holes

[ice fiend]

Caught on a smelt on a jaw jacker about a foot off bottom

[Brochet]

Nice laker !  color looks pretty dark.