Smelt Fishing

[pwfisher]

Went out on the Waterbury Reservoir last night for smelt. Got out at about 7:15 and back at 9:00 with 63 smelt. None were caught until 8, put on a pink gulp alive waxie and within a minute started catching them. Boy what a difference

[fishinaround]

Two questions. What kind of jig would you (are you ) using for smelt? And does anyone know if it is legal to use smelt that are dead when you leave one place and use them elsewhere, in other words if I were to get a bunch and freeze them and use them as bait later? I hear they get mushy when you thaw them out though.

[bradroy55]

Two questions. What kind of jig would you (are you ) using for smelt? And does anyone know if it is legal to use smelt that are dead when you leave one place and use them elsewhere, in other words if I were to get a bunch and freeze them and use them as bait later? I hear they get mushy when you thaw them out though.

Its Totally and unquestionably illegal, as much as i hate to say it. Their was a long thread on this last year.

[pwfisher]

But who is too say you didn't catch them out of the lake your fishing??? We were using haleys and we had lanterns set up on the ice

[mrch33]

but you can buy frozen smelt at rays and use them as bait?  Just wondering

[Little Brown Dog]

but you can buy frozen smelt at rays and use them as bait?  Just wondering

Can I use frozen baitfish from the wild?
No. Wild baitfish cannot be collected,removed from the waterbody, frozen, and used as bait. The VHS virus is not always killed by freezing.

From here http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/vhs.cfm