Does anyone here know how to construct a smelting seat that many sharpies do? A platform and a cusion on it with two rod holders on the sides.

a smelting seat?


well, just get a old-sitting-in-the-sun-too-long fish and sit on it on your chair and tyoull have a nice smelting chair.. phooey..

:laughs:

Heres a couple.

5 gallon bucket.
16" (or so) long plank for a seat. (could use two boards, 8x16)

two pieces of 2x4 on each side cut on the inside to hug the top but not too close.

For the rod holders (when it gets cold)
pair of screw hooks into each 2x,
front faces up and is installed higher
back goes down and is installed lower.
gravity will keep rods in them and at a slight upwards angle

I leave the mods up to you :)

I saw PaulMcCarthy, the wood carver, using these one year.
get a galv. or stainless pail of a hight that you are comfortable sitting on (I suspect his were straight from the shop:) )

cut a spare board in an oval large enough to cover the top.
board should be thick enough to be taller than the handle brackets.

cut away sections to allow for smelt stowage and for the handle brackets.

finish as you would a butcher block cutting board.
The underside (when flipped over) doubles as your cleaning station.

Thank you, Mike.:D I'm copying it and pasting it to my MS Word now.

Those are great illustrations Mike. I fried smelts!
:drool:

what do you use these chairs for?

these look like it'd do great for lugging along on striper fishing expeditions where you need to park your butt, especialy on the rocky cliffs of the Ditch

its for smelt fishing, man. i dont have to jig for smelt, i can sit back and relax and let the rod do its works

Originally posted by Notaro
its for smelt fishing, man. i dont have to jig for smelt, i can sit back and relax and let the rod do its works

I don't want to bust your bubble, But you still have to work the rods up and down for smelt.

The smelt camps up in maine are the way to go. You can go up there for a few hours and come away w/ enough smelts for the year. Its not unheard of for you to walk away w/ 400-600 smelts.

Heated cabins w/ benches. you don't even need poles. They have the lines hanging from a beam above your head. Just bait and dunk.......and partake of your favorite beverage. :D

Originally posted by The Dad Fisherman
I don't want to bust your bubble, But you still have to work the rods up and down for smelt.

The smelt camps up in maine are the way to go. You can go up there for a few hours and come away w/ enough smelts for the year. Its not unheard of for you to walk away w/ 400-600 smelts.

Heated cabins w/ benches. you don't even need poles. They have the lines hanging from a beam above your head. Just bait and dunk.......and partake of your favorite beverage. :D

the chair is for quincy area. but as for maine, i would like to hook up with you on that.:)

never been smelt fishing, but never found it too fun to be sitting freezing my butt off, ill pass if ever offered. closest to freezing my butt off is cod fishing in the dead of winter

Originally posted by jugstah
never been smelt fishing, but never found it too fun to be sitting freezing my butt off, ill pass if ever offered. closest to freezing my butt off is cod fishing in the dead of winter

Thats why you go up to the camps...the sheds are heated. It helps during the winter withdrawals

Whoever smelt it, dealt it :happy:

I used to fish for fresh water smelt on Lake Champlain as a kid. My grandfather had shantys out on the lake. We'd move them around to fish for perch/pickeral/pike...and then to the deep water for smelt.

Now that I have a taste for the bigger fish, I don't like smelting any more. Going out on a frigid lake to catch bait doesn't appeal to me anymore.

Smelt might taste good, but they make better bait for lake trout and salmon.

-IWK

Aww shucks, I'll pass on smelt fishing... if i get withdrawals, i just go trout fishing in the winter months if the ponds arent iced over

Joseph,

I have an old plastic Plano "pier box" that you can have. It's like a little square stool but has compartments for fishing tackle. You can sit on it too (like a stool). Just throw a cushion on it and you're set.

Let me know if you're interested, I was just going to toss it.

It is fun to "jig smelts". They hit little tiny jigs just like a tiny codfish.

for smelt use grass shrimp or bits of seaworm and gold aberdeen hooks. dont remember the size.

Notaro:

I've been doing this for years, off the piers and through the ice.
Personally I dont bother with all that gear. I travel light.
A milk case with a plywood top and a chunk of foam on top of that for a cushion. Throw some gear and a rag in the milk case.
I can lay the rods on the deck if I want, but usually I keep them in my hands all the time. A small bucket is fine 2-3 gal. is plenty.

This is what me and my buddies have been doing for years.
But of course you can do what you like. The fish are already in, but small for the most part. I'm gonna wait. At least till my boating season is over.

GOOD LUCK !!!!

How do you catch smelt at night? Do you use a latern to light up the water? How do you make a rig for them, like a high lo rig or....size hooks? and how deep? Tried tonight usin grass shrimp but no bites. What the heck am I doin wrong? Please advise, this was the first time I've tried to get them. And I really have no clue what I'm doin. Help please....

go to a baitshop.
get some cheap bamboo poles.
pick up a pack of hooks and a gil of shrimp plus a couple seaworms.

wander on down to a dock , bait up the hooks with a shrimp or a bit of worm.

lower them down about 8 ft.
slowly raise and lower them about 1-2 ft
no fish after 10 minutes? tru a little lower. and again and again .

I doubt you'll find any bamboo poles anymore. Most of the newer ones are fiberglass.

I have a pair of the fiberglas poles. they are cool.
I also have a few bamboo that I let the kids use

they have twisted paperclips and electrictape for guides.

I could never understand the old farts bitching about pollack. I always keep the small harbor pollack too.

head and gut them then fry them in butter yum!!

head and gut the smelt there on the doc before you leave.
rinse them out with seawater and head home. dredge in a 50/50 cornflour/whiteflour, dip in an eggwash(2eg,1/4c milk)
let drip, and dredge a second time.

then fry to a nice crispy light brown in hot corn oil
yum yum yum

(I suddenly got an urge for smelts!!!)

I can't wait for the smelt... now I just gotta find out where the locals get their grass shrimp. The one thing I learned last year... it is ALL ABOUT THE BAIT! Grass shrimp and tiny mummichogs rocked. Sea worms will do ok. Everything else = skunk!

at night do you need to shine a light in the water to attract them or does that scare them away?

Originally posted by Youngmoon74
at night do you need to shine a light in the water to attract them or does that scare them away?

That's for squidding.

They aren't afraid of light. I wouldn't say they are really attracted to it either.

I remember I was fishing next to a guy with a Coleman type lantern at night. The light illuminated big schools of baby bunker. You could see the smelt fly through the schools and grab the peanuts.

Last Year I was using a small swedish pimple w/ a tiny peice of seaworm on it. It did the trick pretty well. I was just using my kids $10 rod and it was fine. Went rummaging through my dad's basement and dug out a couple of smelt poles for this year.

Originally posted by Youngmoon74
at night do you need to shine a light in the water to attract them or does that scare them away?

On more than one occasion, fishing through the ice, no light worked much better.

If on the dock and there is a light, I stay towards the very edge of it, not in thebright stuff. Also have done well in the dark areas away from the "lantern guys"....

the fishes like the edges :)

Went last night and the smelt were dancin under the light and laughin at me.....couldn't buy a hit, used frozen grass shrimp(fresh were gone) I tried without the light too but nothin doin. Do you think they were just moody or was it the bait?

Oh man, it happened to me before. I dunno the solution to it. Chum a bit..

Originally posted by Youngmoon74
Went last night and the smelt were dancin under the light and laughin at me.....couldn't buy a hit, used frozen grass shrimp(fresh were gone) I tried without the light too but nothin doin. Do you think they were just moody or was it the bait?


If they're not diggin the grass shrimp try a piece of seaworm or if you can manage to get one you can cut that up and use it for bait also.

are you using just a hook? seriuosly, try a small swedish pimple on the end. The shine will attract them and the bait should get them to bite.

I had some old grass shrimp i dropped them down every once in a while but the smelt just swam around them, by the way can somebody pm me as to where u can catch'em at marina bay....took a drive out there the other night couldn't figure out where they might let u fish....thanx TDF I'll try that next time around, by the way how much are the smelt camps and do they have a web site?

James Eddy Smelt Camp (http://www.angelfire.com/me3/JamesEddySmeltCamps/)

Some General Info (http://www.kellys-stuff.com/smelt.htm)

Another Decent Article (http://www.centralmaine.com/sports/stories/342313.shtml)

are there any smelt camps closer to home? anything in the MA or NH areas?

I used to do a lot of smelt fishing with my grandfather up in Vermont. I only assume that some of the smelt were ocean run smelt that came up the St. Lawrence Seaway to Lake Champlain, but much of the stock were strickly fresh water fish that summered in the deeper reaches of Lake Champlain. I did catch an occasional summer smelt while fishing Lake Trout and Salmon off of down riggers.

I do love a fresh "mess" of smelt during the winter. I guess I will have to give a smelt camp a try. Growing up, I just used family and friend owned shanties. But would be willing to give one of these camps a try.

A little tip for bait. At least what worked best in Vermont. After you catch the first one (we usually used shiners) to catch a few. But the best bait is a small fillet of smelt. We would fillet off the last 1 - 1 1/2 inches of the smelt towards the tail. This bait drove the smelt wild, catching 2 to 1 over the shiners. And the bait is rugged and would last for 6 or more smelt, before having to cut another chunk. So if nothing else is working, cutting them up makes 'em canniblistic in a big way.

I was finally able to post a tip about something I know....lol

-IWK

Thanx Tdf the camps sound interesting looks like i'll have to take a road trip during the winter:D

anyone every live-line smelt? Is it legal? what-about chunking?

I know they are a taste fish, but this time of year my mind is on stripers.

figured I could eat a bunch, freeze a bunch and still have a bunch left for fishing.

-IWK

Originally posted by Iwannakeeper
anyone every live-line smelt? Is it legal? what-about chunking?

I know they are a taste fish, but this time of year my mind is on stripers.

figured I could eat a bunch, freeze a bunch and still have a bunch left for fishing.

-IWK


Try it. Stripers eat smelts and other baitfish.