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smelt for bait?
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 3:30 pm
by Hoser
Bought a bag of frozen smelt and can't get any interest in the house to help me eat them. Anybody ever used them for bait?
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:48 pm
by Woodsman
No but they should work OK where legal(very few places). Thaw them first.
Assuming you are referring to lake smelt compared to ocean smelt.
Maybe just eating them yourself is the best option.
Best Wishes
excellent pike bait
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:44 pm
by mitch
Use them on a windlass tip-up set to slowly move with the wind and another underwater set motionless and watch out. Mitch
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 6:51 pm
by fishhit
Smelts are really good to eat. Dust them in a mixture of flour, cornstarch and spices,i.e. salt, pepper, touch of cayanne and deepfry for a few minutes. Cool and snack on! Smelts can be deadly on pike when deadsticked in the winter on quickstrike rigs. They are also great for salting your icefishing holes to keep fish interested during the weekdays when your not out fishing. Not sure if salting is legal in all cases.
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 8:04 pm
by kanata
I used it in Winter for ice fishing. The meat is too loose so you almost can't cast if you want use it in Summer time.
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:09 pm
by Wallyboss
There great for catfishing.
Posted: Thu Sep 01, 2005 11:53 pm
by Manny
As Mitch said, the only time we had success with smelt was trough the ice with a Windlass.
We have tried to use them trolling for lakers behind small gang-troll with the downriggers but had a tough time getting these big baits to run well so we never put much effort into using them. I have however found a rig that should make them run straight, called une Monture Godille (pardon the french). Got a few ordered in from France (they use these for stream fishing) but just haven't had time to use them this year.
Just a tip, if someone would use these during the warmer months, they have to be thawed real slow or else they go to waste.

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 10:22 am
by sparky
Frozen smelt are legal bait throughout Eastern Ontario, I believe. They can be effective, but they won't hold up to trolling or casting and retrieving. I caught my biggest pike ever a few years ago on opening day, using a thawed smelt on a white leadhead. I just tossed it gently and let it drift in the current.