Author Topic: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?  (Read 15989 times)

Offline blackdogs

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #30 on: Jan 22, 2007, 10:48 AM »
Have never tried anything other than live bait. Where do you get the smelt and how do you puncture the swim bladder?   Would like to try it next weekend if there is ice.

Thanks

First off, thaw your smelt prior to going out on the ice.  Second, take a hook and run it up into the belly, probably 1/3 of the way back on the smelt.  Third, squeeze them OVER OR IN THE HOLE, so you don't waste all that good juice or eggs that come out.  Forth, just stick them on a treble so they are "semi" horizontal and drop them down to about 1 foot off the bottom if flat, or about 8 inches above the weeds if your on a weed bed...  In really shallow water like 3 feet or less, stick them 10 inches below the bottom of the ice...

I actually get my smelt at a meat market, they actually have "bait smelt" in freezers and at a helluva lot cheaper price than most bait shops!!!

You want to make sure you get "bait smelt" NOT CLEANED SMELT, you want the guts and all!!!  Good Luck!!!

Offline deadbait dave

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #31 on: Jan 28, 2007, 06:06 PM »
i use nothing but trout to 12" and ocean herring to 15".
trout make big pike fat and happy!

Offline pikeking

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Re: Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #32 on: Jan 28, 2007, 07:51 PM »
I rarely buy smelt, because they die within 24 hours. Maybe I'll buy a dozen this year and use them alive until they die. I don't remember ever having good luck with any dead bait on lake Winnipesaukee in NH.
Well yesterday was a good day for me then, we got 4 small pike about 4lbs each a 4lb pickerel and a 5lb bass all on LIVE shiners about 4 inches long and very much alive. In a couple weeks when the pike are moving in to spawn we will hang dead suckers about a foot under the ice in 2-3 feet of water and get the the big girls cruising the shore lines .
If fishing was work I'd never be sick!


Offline dabluz

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #33 on: Jan 29, 2007, 08:10 AM »
i use nothing but trout to 12" and ocean herring to 15".

We are not allowed to use sport fish as bait here in Canada.

Offline Kierran

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #34 on: Jan 31, 2007, 09:35 AM »
On pike outings, my two friends and I usually set up a spread of 18 tip-ups.  During first ice, we use half live bait (pike shiners, suckers & perch) and half dead bait (fallfish, suckers & smelt). 

As the season progresses, we start phasing out the live bait. 

The most consistent action comes on dead fallfish.  For some reason the pike in CT love them.  Maybe it's the lack of a spiny dorsal or maybe its the shiny color they give off.  Not sure.

Here is a pic of 14"er my uncle jigged up the other day.  Hoping it will be the golden ticket for last ice pike.

Offline dabluz

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #35 on: Jan 31, 2007, 04:52 PM »
Kierran,

For the fall fish (we call them "ouitouche" up here in the Saguenay), there are probably 2 reasons the pike love them.  First, they are probably the main forage for pike in the waters you fish.  Second, they give off a lot of scent.  Late last summer I used fillets of fall fish as bait on a jig and the difference in bites was immediate.  I plan to catch some next summer and freeze them for ice fishing next winter. 

What I did is illegal in most of my region but I really wanted to experiment.  I tried it out for a few hours and released the fish that I caught using this method. From now on, any of those fish that I catch, I will freeze them and use them where and when it's legal to use them whole or as cut bait.


Offline pyle

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #36 on: Mar 02, 2007, 06:31 PM »
I used to be a firm believer of live bait only, but a buddy of mine turned me onto smelt(dead). All the pike i have caught this year have been on smelt except one,and its a hell of alot cheaper if you go out alot. $4.00 a dozen compaired to $8.00......

Offline peterpike

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #37 on: Mar 02, 2007, 08:11 PM »
use mainly smelt and somtimes live. to ge the smelt to sink just put them on the defroster before going out works like a charm. gives ur truck a nice little aroma too :o

Offline deadbait dave

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #38 on: Mar 02, 2007, 08:15 PM »
pike are lazy most of the time! they are opportunistic feeders, they have it in their genes to cruise around and eat all the winterkill that occures every year after a long coat of ice. they do push bait, but i think their lethargic mood 80% of the time makes deadbait work real well.   d. b. d.       :tipup:
trout make big pike fat and happy!

Offline dabluz

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Re: Pike? Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #39 on: Mar 02, 2007, 08:39 PM »
Imparting a little twitch every now and then to the dead smelt really helps in getting more strikes.

Offline pikeking

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Re: Live bait or Smelt ?
« Reply #40 on: Mar 04, 2007, 07:27 PM »
How do you get your dead baits to sink I have tried to use smelt but just don't seem to get the hang of it
I just squeeze their bellies til their guts start coming out the gills then the air bag is popped and it is a go...
If fishing was work I'd never be sick!


 



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