Keeping smelt alive

[subwaytinks]

What do people use or build to keep smelt alive under the ice for long stretches of time? Tried a cage with 3 dozen and in a week had only 5 left.

[nateicefisherman1984]

The rest died ?

[subwaytinks]

Ya they all died. Don't know if it is because the cage is too small and they just didn't move or what. Any advice would be great

[gogetthegaff]

Ya they all died. Don't know if it is because the cage is too small and they just didn't move or what. Any advice would be great

I take a 5 gallon bucket and cut the bottom off. Then I wrap 36" wide hardware cloth around the base of the bucket and attach it with self tapping screws, forming a cylinder . Then take the cut off bottom section of the bucket and attach that with screws to the bottom of the hardware cloth cylinder. Set the thing in the ice , snap on the lid and you're good to go. Very easy and cheap to make.

[dave bartlett]

      Smelt are awfully hard to keep alive after they have been hooked.I remember at a local bait shop years ago ,he used to go to Champlain and catch them,bring them back and put them in his bait bins and he would loose 70% of them in 5 or 6 days.We used to catch them on Bomo and put them in our bait box but still would loose them.A old buck told me that if you had a round trap you wouldn't loose them cause the way they swim ,in a square trap they hit the sides and die.

[Fish Farmer]

Pulling them up from the depths quickly takes it's toll as well. I used to have very little problems with smelt caught from 20 feet or less, but ones from 60 feet would have expanded air bladders and usually float up and eventually die. These would be my dinner smelt.

[gogetthegaff]

Pulling them up from the depths quickly takes it's toll as well. I used to have very little problems with smelt caught from 20 feet or less, but ones from 60 feet would have expanded air bladders and usually float up and eventually die. These would be my dinner smelt.

x 2

[fishermarsh]

Smelt are notoriously hard to keep alive for any period of time.  In Maine live smelt are very popular and a lot of bait dealers sell them in plastic bags inflated with oxygen.  Never fished with them but that seems to help a great deal.  Check the Maine board for info.  Maybe an aerated bait bucket would work???

[Icemanvt]

I have noticed that smelt stay alive when kept under the ice in a dark area where they cannot see out of. I have tried a regular minnow trap and only had a few survive out of about 60 smeltbut when kept in a dark container with a few air holes I rarely have any die

[thebigwiggle]

      Smelt are awfully hard to keep alive after they have been hooked.I remember at a local bait shop years ago ,he used to go to Champlain and catch them,bring them back and put them in his bait bins and he would loose 70% of them in 5 or 6 days.We used to catch them on Bomo and put them in our bait box but still would loose them.A old buck told me that if you had a round trap you wouldn't loose them cause the way they swim ,in a square trap they hit the sides and die.

This is so true Dave.. This is how allot of minnows die.

[thebigwiggle]

I have noticed that smelt stay alive when kept under the ice in a dark area where they cannot see out of. I have tried a regular minnow trap and only had a few survive out of about 60 smeltbut when kept in a dark container with a few air holes I rarely have any die

Once again This is True .. The darker the better because it dosent stress th fish out and when they are not stress they live longer.. kinda of like Us " Humans" 

[thebigwiggle]

Do any of you guys remember how Ed bait shop on Rt 22A  use to put the Smelt in the bag and then blow pure oxygen in the bag and seal it up.. those smelt would live a very long time as long you did not break open the bag..

[dave bartlett]

          Yes wiggles i do,actually i still have him do that with shiners when i buy them the day before a derby and buy the bait for the whole weekend.Then i don't have to deal with the rush the morning of the derby.

[gogetthegaff]

Do any of you guys remember how Ed bait shop on Rt 22A  use to put the Smelt in the bag and then blow pure oxygen in the bag and seal it up.. those smelt would live a very long time as long you did not break open the bag..

I do. What I remember most about Eds' though was the emeralds that he sold us for about $3.50 a pint! And it was a big pint too. But that was way back when you could use them, and also catch walleyes consistently.

[vtbuckrulrss]

Years ago when it was legal ( as it still SHOULD be) a friend would come for a weekend of fishing from Conn.  We would either catch, or buy our own smelt.  Then, we would stay in a hotel and go party for the night. I bought a battery operated aerator,, kept the smelt in a cooler filled with lake water and snow to keep them cold, turn on the aerator, and never had a problem with them dying.