Smelt spearing on the east coast

Hello All,

Our smelt spearing season has just begun (ice thick enough)!! We will
once again begin using all of the time tested tricks and techniques,
however does anyone out there have any other tips?

We basically have a tesser made up of various colored yarn and
mackeral flys. Red seems to be the smelts favorite again this year. As
for bait we throw almost anything down the hole, boiled potatoes,
rotten fish/meat, anything....Our motto is the more compost down there
the better!! For chum we use the old stand-by oatmeal and mix it with
baby clams,tuna or salmon.

This year we have painted the inside of our shack completly black, we
were told that this helps pervent the smelts from seeing ya.......

Anyhow all tips will be appreciated.....

You probably already do this but we put a white sheet on the ground below
the hole so you can see the smelt when they pass over it. It's also a good
idea to throw a lot of lobster and crab shells on the sheet because it seems
to attract the smelt. Some people even through in a can of kippered snack on
there. We also use some red yarn on a string which we move up and down and
that seems to attract a fair amount of smelt. For bait we make a funnel with
the top of a 2 litre pop bottle and about 4 to 6 inches of 1" plumbing pipe
taped to it and we drop some oatmeal in every once in a while. This way the
oatmeal is released under water and it doesn't make the water all blurry in
the hole. I myself prefer to go at night though because all you need is an
underwater light and a battery and the smelt will come right for ya. Most of
the time they will actually touch the light and they are real easy to catch.

Laterz,

Dre

"canadianboyxxx" wrote in message
om...
Hello All,

Our smelt spearing season has just begun (ice thick enough)!! We will
once again begin using all of the time tested tricks and techniques,
however does anyone out there have any other tips?

We basically have a tesser made up of various colored yarn and
mackeral flys. Red seems to be the smelts favorite again this year. As
for bait we throw almost anything down the hole, boiled potatoes,
rotten fish/meat, anything....Our motto is the more compost down there
the better!! For chum we use the old stand-by oatmeal and mix it with
baby clams,tuna or salmon.

This year we have painted the inside of our shack completly black, we
were told that this helps pervent the smelts from seeing ya.......

Anyhow all tips will be appreciated.....

How big are your smelt?
Do you really "spear" them?
We smelt fish here with nets.
"canadianboyxxx" wrote in message
om...
Hello All,

Our smelt spearing season has just begun (ice thick enough)!! We will
once again begin using all of the time tested tricks and techniques,
however does anyone out there have any other tips?

We basically have a tesser made up of various colored yarn and
mackeral flys. Red seems to be the smelts favorite again this year. As
for bait we throw almost anything down the hole, boiled potatoes,
rotten fish/meat, anything....Our motto is the more compost down there
the better!! For chum we use the old stand-by oatmeal and mix it with
baby clams,tuna or salmon.

This year we have painted the inside of our shack completly black, we
were told that this helps pervent the smelts from seeing ya.......

Anyhow all tips will be appreciated.....

They average about 4 to 8 inches long. Yes we "spear" them.

Dre

"Sticks" wrote in message
...
How big are your smelt?
Do you really "spear" them?
We smelt fish here with nets.
"canadianboyxxx" wrote in message
om...
Hello All,

Our smelt spearing season has just begun (ice thick enough)!! We will
once again begin using all of the time tested tricks and techniques,
however does anyone out there have any other tips?

We basically have a tesser made up of various colored yarn and
mackeral flys. Red seems to be the smelts favorite again this year. As
for bait we throw almost anything down the hole, boiled potatoes,
rotten fish/meat, anything....Our motto is the more compost down there
the better!! For chum we use the old stand-by oatmeal and mix it with
baby clams,tuna or salmon.

This year we have painted the inside of our shack completly black, we
were told that this helps pervent the smelts from seeing ya.......

Anyhow all tips will be appreciated.....

Here in the Saguenay River, we catch them through the ice with tiny hooks
baited with bits of worm. The limit is 120 smelt. I use ten no 12 hooks
and a 1/4 ounce weight on 4 lb test line. We fish for the smelt in very
shallow water. When the tide is high, we make our holes in about 10 feet of
water and when the tide is low, we have to move further out to where there
is water. The best time is with a falling tide and with about 4 to 6 feet
of water under the ice. No one spears them but some people use a sort of
gaff that attaches to the end of a fishing line. It's a series of hooks all
radiating out from a central lead weight. The points of the hoods are
pointed upward. When the smelt bites on the baited hook and the fisherman
misses it, the upward strike of the rod, makes the gaff pick up the smelt.
The gaff is called a "turlutte" in Quebec. I hate the bloody things. They
rip up more smelt than they catch. If the fishermen would only use better
hook smaller hooks and less bait on each hook, they would catch more smelt
by the mouth. Most use a no 6 hook and jam a huge piece of bait on the hook
and expect to hook a smelt by the mouth when even a nice sized trout would
have trouble putting his mouth on the rig. When fishing, I regularly out
fish the guys around me even though they are using those damned "turluttes".

--
http://www.bluezone.best.cd/
"Dre" wrote in message
...
You probably already do this but we put a white sheet on the ground below
the hole so you can see the smelt when they pass over it. It's also a good
idea to throw a lot of lobster and crab shells on the sheet because it
seems
to attract the smelt. Some people even through in a can of kippered snack
on
there. We also use some red yarn on a string which we move up and down and
that seems to attract a fair amount of smelt. For bait we make a funnel
with
the top of a 2 litre pop bottle and about 4 to 6 inches of 1" plumbing
pipe
taped to it and we drop some oatmeal in every once in a while. This way
the
oatmeal is released under water and it doesn't make the water all blurry
in
the hole. I myself prefer to go at night though because all you need is an
underwater light and a battery and the smelt will come right for ya. Most
of
the time they will actually touch the light and they are real easy to
catch.

Laterz,

Dre

"canadianboyxxx" wrote in message
om...
Hello All,

Our smelt spearing season has just begun (ice thick enough)!! We will
once again begin using all of the time tested tricks and techniques,
however does anyone out there have any other tips?

We basically have a tesser made up of various colored yarn and
mackeral flys. Red seems to be the smelts favorite again this year. As
for bait we throw almost anything down the hole, boiled potatoes,
rotten fish/meat, anything....Our motto is the more compost down there
the better!! For chum we use the old stand-by oatmeal and mix it with
baby clams,tuna or salmon.

This year we have painted the inside of our shack completly black, we
were told that this helps pervent the smelts from seeing ya.......

Anyhow all tips will be appreciated.....