Fishing with frozen smelt and ciscoe

[fishin]

Yesterday I went to the bait shop to get some frozen smelt but they didn't have any, but they had frozen ciscoe so I decided to try them out. I bought the special hooks for them but I cant figure out how to fish them. They just float and I cant get them stay down horizontal like I want them to. Anybody else use these or frozen smelt? If so how do you fish them? Thank you for any help.

[minneman]

You cant fish with frozen bait.. thaw it out first!

[Steve Foss]

dm:

Sounds like you're fishing for pike with tip-ups or deadstick? Yes? Or are you talking lake trout?

I fish with frozen smelt for pike all the time, same with cisco and herring.

The bait doesn't have to hang horizontal for pike to eat it. They take dead bait however they find it. If the frozen bait insists on floating (some does, some doesn't), just weight it down enough to sink it. A half ounce egg sinker on a tip-up or dead stick is enough to pull the bait down, and yet not trip the tip-up.

If your depth is important to you, just compensate for the fact that the bait is floating a foot or two feet or however far ABOVE the sinker. Pike don't care.

Special hooks aren't needed, either. A single hook or a quick-strike rig works fine.

------------------
"I've driven farther before to catch fewer fish . . ."
Steve Foss
[email protected]

[This message has been edited by stfcatfish (edited 01-20-2003).]

[Guest]

I stick a 16 penny nail down it's throat to help it sink, hooking the bait threw the back so it hangs horizontal, if it's a big smelt or cisco, you mite need another nail up it's #$%
you mite want to thaw them a little, I like to slice there bellies with a knive for added scent as they thaw out in the water. try a little red yarn tied rite above the hook so it hangs along side the bait, work's for me. I'd like to hear anymore ideas, I pike fish quite often, and am alway's looking for new ideas.

Good Luck

[David Swenson]

I like to lay the smelt or ciscoe on the bottom. I use a 3/8 oz. slip sinker above the bait so the fish has little resistance after grabbing the bait. I find that my dead bait can never float the trebles I use on my quick strike rigs. So even fishing dead bait suspended off the bottom I have no problem with bait floating. I also will cut bait open to ad more scent in the water as mentioned above.

David Swenson
http://muskieguide.homestead.com/

[fishin]

I am fishing for pike using tip-ups. I did thaw out the bait but it did the same thing. I will try your suggestions stfcatfish. Thanks for the help!

[Steve Foss]

Fishing on the bottom is a good way to catch 'em. A lot of dead fish end up on the bottom, and pike are used to finding them there.

I also make sure one tip-up is a couple feet off the bottom. If I'm fishing where three lines are allowed (Wis) or four (N.D.), I'll put one a couple feet under the ice, since dead fish sometimes float too, and pike are used to finding them under the ice.

[BLACKJACK]

People talk about using dead smealt or ciscos, how about using dead shiners or suckers? Last time I was out fishing all I could find were some fatheads, was wishing that I had a couple of the dead 5" shiners that I had tossed out the week before....

[metrojoe]

I'm assuming these hooks your talking about are pike hooks. These are a quick strike hook. They work great. I'd use them all the time if I could find smelt regularly.
If your using a rather large minnow, then your going to want to use the larger size hook. Start the hook on the underside of the minnow at the rear end of the body and drive it through until you feel the tip of the hook protruding through the minnows head right between the eyes. The minnow is more or less threaded on the hook and the eye should be approximately above the center of the minnow, so it's balanced. Like mentioned above it's not vitally important that it floats perfectly straight. Just remember to hit them right away, it doesn't take long before the pike feel the hook and spit it.

Good luck

[Guest]

You mentioned in your post the inability to find smelt at the bait store. You should check your super market they have them quite often and cheaper, I keep them around for Cats, in summer Pike in winter. You can also solve the float issue by using a drop shot method were the bait is tied to a seperate line above a sinker on a three way.

[G_man]

If you stick a nail in down a bait's throat and the fish cleans you hook and ingests the food, what are the fish's chances of surviving?

Here is an idea for you. When you buy all those expensive golden shiners and they are floating the next day, don't throw them out. Put them in a ziploc bag and freeze them. Just hide them in the back of the freezer so the wife doesn't throw them out on you.