Using grocery store fish as bait? Smelt & Herring

[busler15]

Ive recently heard of people using the smelt they buy at the grocery store as bait. I am very open to trying this saying bait is now nearly 10 a  dozen for shiners!
Any info on this technique would be great. How much are they? are they canned or frozen? how do you rig them on tip ups?

Thanks

[scavengerj]

Have read and heard that those grocery store bought baits work. At least for pike anyway. The oilier the better. A year or two ago heard a guy caught a giant muskie from a local lake on a canned shrimp 

[Scientist]

The trick to using grocery store fish as bait is you have to make sure that they are fresh and not previously frozen and that the fish is whole and not cleaned. A lot of stores sell smelt but they are cleaned already. I guess you could use it but I would not waste my time unless fishing for catfish.

[1TIGGER]

Busler15
I would check in to that , I asked Albany if that could be done and they said no because it was not a certified baitfish .
It don't make a bit of sense to me because it's for human consumption and one would think if it's good enough to eat it should be good enough for bait .
Dressed smelt does work though , I have used it in a pinch but it's not nearly as productive because most of the oils are not present after they clean them .

[BojiHawk]

Absolutely positively works...and I saw a guy catch a nice pike on a vienna sausage with a willowblade slipped over the hook on a wind jigger tipup.  No lie.  The smelt I used are whole, individually frozen.  I like to eat  smoked oysters out of a can and then shoot that oily juice into the smelt's gullet so it leaks out slowly.  I used to put them on first then head to shallow weed beds and jig for tiny perch and gills and slowly change the lines to live bait.  That stinky oil in those tins is great to put anything in...i put waxies in it to. 

Advantages: fewer bait flags , easy to handle, never spoil, cheap and convenient ($6 for about 60 in NE).   
Disadvantages: pemanent smell on your hands (they reek) and not as effective. 

[Master Angler]

I regularly buy whole frozen sardines, smelt, and mackerel from the grocery store for pike bait.  Likely not this year though, I caught lots of 8-14 inch suckers and chubs for this winter.  But when big bait is hard to find I use it and it works.  Our local gorcery store gets in smelt and sardines mostly just in the winter for the icefisherman for bait.

[big-brother]

Weekly purchase for me!!!!Each visit to the local SuperStore on the regular grocery run means a visit to the fish dept. and one or more bags of Smelts,Herring,Sardines or Mackeral goes into the cart.The bigger the better.

[busler15]

Thanks for all of the information!

It looks like to me they work decently. It sounds like live shiners will work better for tip ups, but maybe i can get these for jigging or deadsticking?

Thanks again guys.

[archbishop]

I do have success with the frozen smelt, i just spray them with PAM before i drop them down into the water

[Marlin07]

I too have good luck with the grocery store bait. Check your local chinese market ( lucky 97 in Edmonton, Ab for example) Bait is ALOT cheaper as well. I'm still not sure I would eat it though...

[ice dawg]

I buy frozen Rainbow Smelt at the grocery store for catching snot rockets. Combined with a quick strike rig they are deadly.

[vivlamored]

could you  please send one to me because i have also tacked with some dec officers and say that you can't use them

[strikemaster2]

big blue jack mackeral work awesome, oily and fat. bigger the bait bigger the trophy.and don't forget to catch and release.  p.s. from our fishing family to everyone Merry Christmas and have a safe and dry new year. 8)

[fish_finder]

We use it here all the time, usually smelts, sometimes salt herring works good but i find the smelts work better

[Lobes]

If it's legal it will work fine. The added salt will actually help as an attractant.

NBG

[Iceline]

With the price of bait today and the new regulations an alternative bait would be great.
I too offen wondered about grocery store boughten bait.I hear the talk about smelt and mackerel for pike,
but what are your thoughts on shrimp for pan fish? Canned or otherwise..? Crawfish.? Pieces of crab.?

Most importantly........... ............

Is it legal?

I can't find anything that says it is or isn't....

[troutperchbeeman]

I think it would be legal. Maybe not smelt as they are a freshwater fish. But mackerel and anchovies are saltwater fish as well as shrimp. I never thought about crayfish tails. You may be on to something. That is one of the grey areas of the new VHS pervention laws. I'm sure if you asked 10 DEC officers, 5 would say it's legal and 5 would say it's not.

[archbishop]

Busler15
I would check in to that , I asked Albany if that could be done and they said no because it was not a certified baitfish .

I heard the same thing, but not from any official

[1TIGGER]

Grocery store smelt is no longer legal in New York , neither is grocery store sardines or mackerel .

[Iceline]

Grocery store smelt is no longer legal in New York , neither is grocery store sardines or mackerel .

I looked all over the DEC web site and found nothing that indicates or supports the above statement. Not saying that I am going to run out to
Martins and purchase smelt or any other seafood or fish to use as bait. Just keeping my options open and further investigating this issue.
$7.00 for one dozen minnows is crazy. I didn't mind and still wouldn't mind paying $7 even $10.00 for a dip (at least 3 doz or more) and was
able to keep them and use them for the following 2 weeks or so. Now everytime I out its $25.00 for minnows and what ever else you tend to pick up
(and there is always something). I understand that it is to protect the fish populations, etc. But why does it ultimately always come down to high prices
at the register?

OK I'll get off my soap box.

[ULTRAlite]

Use the grocery store as a bait shop ALL the time - anytime I can.  

[Iceline]

Use the grocery store as a bait shop ALL the time - anytime I can.  

That is fine and great. But your Canada and I'm in NY..... Different rules and Reg's.

I (we) need to assure this is legal in NYS.........?

[ULTRAlite]

Why not call your local office to get it from the horse's mouth (so to speak, no offence meant to any fish and game officials  )

Edit - only mention here of where you can't buy bait

Note: Pet store fish (tropical fish) or crayfish cannot be used as bait

[Iceline]

Quote
Note: Pet store fish (tropical fish) or crayfish cannot be used as bait

Why not call your local office to get it from the horse's mouth (so to speak, no offence meant to any fish and game official's )

Edit - only mention here of where you can't buy bait

I really don't understand why you wouldn't be able to use crayfish... I use and buy them from bait shops for bass. Again, an Icefishing Reg.?

Tropical fish I can understand and also agree with. It just wouldn't be right.

[ULTRAlite]

Here I think that they are trying to control populations of live crayfish.  Not many bodies of water with them in it (more and more every year) but I could be wrong...

[Iceline]

Not to change the subject.

That I would understand.... We here in NY use crayfish for Bass all the time. But they are abundant in many streams throughout NYS.

Back too what you can and can't use and where you can purchase it.

Any help would be appreciated.

[perchindude123]

i have never used store bought bait but i dont see why it would make a difference. i buy chicken livers all the time in the spring for catfish

[troutperchbeeman]

I think the the crayfish thing was for crayfish bought at a pet store.  Before the new regs. I use to but rosey reds at the pet store all the time. None of my local bait shops had them so I bought them from the pet store. Not anymore.

[1TIGGER]

I looked all over the DEC web site and found nothing that indicates or supports the above statement. Not saying that I am going to run out to
Martins and purchase smelt or any other seafood or fish to use as bait. Just keeping my options open and further investigating this issue.
$7.00 for one dozen minnows is crazy. I didn't mind and still wouldn't mind paying $7 even $10.00 for a dip (at least 3 doz or more) and was
able to keep them and use them for the following 2 weeks or so. Now everytime I out its $25.00 for minnows and what ever else you tend to pick up
(and there is always something). I understand that it is to protect the fish populations, etc. But why does it ultimately always come down to high prices
at the register?


ICELINE

I have nearly 30 pages of the new laws around the use of baitfish sent to me by the D.E.C. and spent countless hours on the phone for the last couple of months with Albany and my local D.E.C. office , trust me they CANT be used .
I wanted to use them too but smelt in any capacity fall into the baitfish category and they must be commercially packaged as bait in order to use them .

If you would like to speak to the officials I spoke with to verify this call either Shaun Keeler in Albany he is the Inland fisheries director or Shawn Hannah in the Region 8 D.E.C office and they can explain it in detail .
I sent all the info to another forum member just this morning and he came to the same conclusion I did after reading it .
Be warned that I did speak to several field officers of the D.E.C and got several conflicting answers that's why I asked for the laws in writing ,  take you're chances if you choose but I did get this in print .

[esox13]

I didn't know where else to get smelt other than the grocery store. I have made friends with the meat dept manager and he will package some of the largest smelt and keep them as fresh as possible for me. There have been many times he has called to let me know he just received some dandies and I should get over there. Pike love em. Slit the belly and put them on a quick strike rig and watch the flags fly!!