Tip-Ups

[IcEaHoLiC]

Hey guys, i am just curious to see where i could pick up some smelt for this weekend?!?! I hear thats pretty decent on tip-ups.....

[hanson]

Iceaholic-

Where are you located at??

I'm stopping by Vados Bait tomorrow evening to check for smelt. I left my herring up north this weekend.

Smelt works very well. So does herring & cisco.

You might want to check the grocery store or even a seafood dealer.

[IcEaHoLiC]

Im located in Maple Grove, MN.......NM suburb of Minneapolis

[BD110]

hanson,

I'll be bringing some smelt with me to the Laker Bash. Let me know if you have trouble finding some. They are saying that Cisco is the way to go. Do you use a large dead bait hook for your smelt. That is what I use and they seem to work very well on Northern. I have a few extras in my pack if needed. I'll talk to you Friday before the bash. Did you get anyones cell number from our Duluth/Superior crew.

I'll e-mail you my cell phone number so we can hook up on Friday when you get to Ely.

Take care,

Tom (BD110)

[deeky]

All I can find locally are cleaned smelt with the head and fins removed. They are only about 3 inches long. I'm guessing I'm looking for whole ones a bit larger, correct?

[BD110]

deeky,

I'm not going to say the pieces of cleaned smelt will not catch you a fish. But you are correct on the ones that will do a better job. That would be the whole smelt intact. Most try and keep the bigger ones for bait. I cured my smelt in borax this spring and they seem to be working well. The only good tip I can see is after you have thawed your smelt do not let them re-freeze. they seem to fall apart very easy after they are thawn an re-frozen. Just my 2 cents.....

Take care,

Tom (BD110)

[hanson]

Took a stroll over to Vados Bait in Spring Lake Park off of Central Ave in the cities here.

They have smelt. The look pretty good. The fins are clipped but the size is decent, about 5 inchers.

They also have ciscos. Boy oh boy do they have ciscos. I didn't pick any up but I will be in another month in a half for some serious pike fishing. These suckers were 12" plus.

Iceaholic- It shouldn't be a very far drive for you to get over, maybe 15 minutes 1 way.

BD110- I got your e-mail with your cell #. I think I plan on heading straight to Burntside to get some fishing in when I get up there. Sounds like the evening hot spot will be the Grand Ely Lodge. So much to do up there, it is going to be a great weekend.

As far as hooks, I typically use quick strike rigs under my tip-ups for pike. One treble in front of the dorsal and another by the tail. I'm guessing this might be overboard for lakers. I might be giving circle hooks a shot if I set a tip-up out on B-side.