smelt? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

Christian · 10-02-2002, 06:58 PM

Anybody know where and how to catch smelt? like what size hook, wieght, bait? what type of tackle? want to be able to catch something when the stripers move out and the cod arent biting on cold days on the pier.

JohnR · 10-02-2002, 07:32 PM

Talk to Chubsdad - he may not be online again until after the Vineyard Derby but he'll know - so will Ron at the Sportsmansd Den in Quincy... There is usually good smelt fishing in several locations in Quincy from Marina Bay to Blacks Creek to the Fore & Town rivers

Mike P · 10-02-2002, 07:39 PM

We used to fish for smelt in the boat basin at Sandwich, on the Canal, when I was a kid. I would say a #4 to #6 hook will work, and a small splitshot should be all ya need for weight. For bait--we used grass shrimp. But small bits of clams or wotms shpuld also work.

chubsdad · 10-02-2002, 08:23 PM

christain smelt are funny one day there bitting like mad the next you may catch 2. but its fun and good eating . hooks size 4 or 6 use a bead chain. alot of guys use smelt poles . if you dont have one use a fresh water rod or a old fly rod. thats what i use . if your beginng stay with the single hook alot of guys will tell you to use spreders . i find single hook with two rods is easer and better when there hitting. as for bait grass shrimp is #1 but seaworms work verry well. i find at night seaworms work better. right now the salt water club in hull is catching alot. mb in quincy.if your looking for shrimp foreriver has a good supply of live shrimp. also another good spot behind c v s next to the sportmans den. if your looking for company pm me . when i get back from the vinnard ill go with you mike

Christian · 10-03-2002, 05:07 PM

thanks for the info, i read alot in the fisherman magazine about fore river bait and tackle. i always fish around black creek to nut island pier for stripers and in early spring and late fall for cod. ive got a nice little light weight fly rod and an ultra light spinner , hope to try black creek for some smelt in a week or two cause im away this weekend. my firend has a slip over a jefferies point in east boston and he says some old guys go out on the dock and catch tuns. hope the stripers and blues are still going to be busting bunker over by logan. my only chance to fish is next weekend so hopefully theyll still be around.

Christian · 10-14-2002, 09:46 AM

went fishing last knight at the nut island pier in quincy for smelt. nothing was happening, but then i had a nibble. i pulled up the biggest cunner i have ever seen, like a pound and a half. if you dont know what a cunner is look it up. its basically a tog but smaller but it still has the nasty teeth. it was fun fighting it on my ultra light spinning rod, but what i really wanted was smelt. Where are they?

TheSpecialist · 10-14-2002, 09:57 AM

check your pm's

Tobiko · 10-17-2002, 03:42 PM

The smelts are out there. I caught most of my smelts at Marina Bay. But there are also lots of herring out there.

Good luck.

Christian · 10-17-2002, 03:53 PM

cool thanks im going to try this weekend if i can or friday night if anyone is down there tell me so i can come and say hi. i wont mind the herring as long as a striper takes it while theres a hook in its back. bye the way how did you do on numbers of smelt there?

Tobiko · 10-17-2002, 03:57 PM

I went there a couple of times already. Each time, I manage to get 30-50 out of there. Grass Shrimps on a Sabiki rig. Harder to handle but you can cover more areas as far as depth. In my experience, with smelts, it's all about getting the bait to where they are.

BasicPatrick · 10-17-2002, 05:59 PM

Christian, I just called a friend about where he has been smelting and the Hull town Dock which is hidden between the Nantasket Beach Salt Water Club and the Hull Yaught Club has been loaded one day and spotty the next, but cathes there every low tide. The closer to low the better as they move in there trying to avoid the Blues and Bass in the Bay

Patrick

gilligan · 10-17-2002, 06:24 PM

i got an unlimited suppy of time at the saltwater club. if your interested llet me know.i will be doing work there in the near future. my parteners dad in law is a big wig from what i understand

Van · 10-18-2002, 09:41 AM

My friends dad goes all the time (he ain't got much else to do).
The fishing has been spotty. Incoming to high has been most productive.

As soon as my boats put to bed I will be going.
Any of you guys/Mike talk to me too and we should try to go.

Its always fun to shoot the s*** while smeltin'..... More the merrier.

Christian · 10-18-2002, 09:45 PM

i went to marina bay earlyer tonight around 5 oclock only caught 3 smelt and a bunch of tom cod. its was fun while it lasted. i think i got there just as the fish were leaving because an oriental man left as soon as i got there with a bunch of really small ones like 3inchers, my smelt were about 6-7 inchers. caught them on shrimp using a single hook with a rubber core sinker (now i know why they suggested me to use the bead chains), but it twists alot, next time ill spend the extra money and get em. i also used a sabiki (spelling?) rig and caught one on that. thanks for all the info it really helped. its always nice to know that there are people here i can rely on for good fishing info. thanks.

Tobiko · 10-21-2002, 07:58 AM

I was there on Saturday and caught about 60 smelts. Here is a little tidbit that you may find helpful. Instead of using the entire sabiki rig, which I find cumbersome and time-consuming to bait, I cut the line and re-tie it with only 2-3 hooks. That way, if they steal the bait on one hook, I still have baited hooks down there that will catch any other bait robber.

Good luck

Van · 10-21-2002, 08:05 AM

R U using grass shrimp?

Tobiko · 10-21-2002, 09:01 AM

Yes. I think they are the best and only fresh ones, if I can help it. I saw others cutting up these tiny bait fishes also.

Christian · 10-21-2002, 02:45 PM

how do you do so well? does it have to do with where they are in the water colum. i think it might because i would get bites about 2ft off the bottom and that is where i caught my !THREE! it was frustrating.

Van · 10-21-2002, 03:01 PM

Christian's got a good question, my buddy's father (retired) goes almost everyday, but manages only a dozen or two when its good.

Tobiko · 10-21-2002, 03:12 PM

Wow, not quite sure how to answer that question. I have been getting quite a bit near the bottom. I also never pay attention to tides, although people say that it is best 2 hours before and 2 hours after high tide.
I stay at a spot for 20-30 minutes and if I do not get a bite or the action is slow, I move. It's funny, smelts could be 10 feet away and they will not bite your bait. There are times when I would be sitting 5 feet from someone and they are hitting them like crazy and I would get nothing.
Also, I chum my area well with any dead shrimps from my previous trips. I am a big believer in chumming the water.

Hope this helps.

Christian · 10-21-2002, 03:17 PM

i am using grass shrimp. ill try worms next time, but ill also use shrimp. this friday im probally going there. ill be fishing all out. ive collected all of the dead shrimp, some sea worms, tommy cod bits and pieces, smelt heads and what ever was in my freezer that i couldn't recognize and made a chum block, i used some hardware cloth and made a chum holder "thingy". not to mention a lantern. when i was there last friday the guys next to me caught 1. my bait kept dissapearing and we didnt know what was doing it and my friend pulled up on big buncker that was doing all the damage to our bait supply. i ve only been smelting once so i guess i might just have to get accustomed to it. those 3 little things were delicious, had em for breakfast on a bagle.
...........just read your post tobiko while typing. it seems we think alike. i wonder if light would attract them also? might attract shrimp or other bait and then eventually to the smelt. ill try a bunch of things on friday. do you think the day is better than the night, or night better than day?

Tobiko · 10-21-2002, 04:13 PM

To tell you the truth, what I enjoy most out of smelt fishing is the opportunity to get away and relax. I have been doing it for over 20 years. Nothing better than to be sitting on a pier late at night or early morning or even on a nice sunny day. I love it when it snows also. Of course, catching smelts is an added bonus. I have been on numerous trips where I have caught nothing but I always walked away smiling.

I find that the light attracts the smelts. First of all, at night, with my lantern, I see all the little bait fish come up to the surface. Smelts eat the tiny fishes also. It definitely helps.

Remember that smelts like cold water and work off a sense of smell. Unlike herring which will bite a sabiki with no bait, smelts will not bite a hook that does not have shrimp. If it is a warm day, I tend to go deeper. If it is cold, I hover around the middle. This is the reason why I like the sabiki so much. By jigging up an down, I can cover a range of 5-7 feet, then I keep track of which hook the smelt bites on. After a couple of smelts, I adjust all of my rods to that height and then it's a feeding frenzy.

Keep an eye on how deep other fishermen are going. IF they are catching, then adjust your depth. And chum like mad.

Good luck. I will not be able to make it this Friday. Trust me, I would rather be fishing for smelts than going to a Halloween party.

Christian · 10-24-2002, 08:55 PM

smelting tommorow (friday) at around 5:00pm marina bay say. if ur going tommorow tell me so i can say hi. i ve got chum this time, a lantern and a camping stove(coffee, hot coco) not to mention maybee cooking some right there, just want to do it so i can say i did. what else could i bring?. i have a chair a pillow jacket, gloves hat, o yeah rod bait. what else do ya think i should bring?

19Mako · 10-24-2002, 10:29 PM

hey John R,
Tobiko is my brother. He's a real smelt fanatic who prefers braving the harsh cold element of winter chasing the little critters than soaking up the hot rays of summertime fishing for stripers. We are complete opposites when it comes to fishing.

For now I still prefer hacking the cold weather jiggin for cod than sitting on a bucket jigging for smelts.

Christian, here's another tip, smelt love shrimp heads and most of the time won't hit shrimp without it's head so check your bait closely. Simple rule: no head, change bait. Hook the little thing from the tail and work the point up into the head of the shrimp.
Use the #6 or #8 aberdeen hooks.

The fish are definately out there, I got 37 this evening around 5:00p, 3/4 of the way down the dock across from Capt Fishbones restaurant.

hey Tobiko, my single hook still outfishes your modified sabiki.

Christian, don't forget to feed that crippled seagull with a few smelts for good luck.

Tobiko · 10-25-2002, 12:26 AM

Ok, here is the score on Wednesday night after a few hours of fishing:

Tobiko, using modified sabiki - ~20 smelts, 10+ herring

19Mako, using weird looking jig - 5 smelts

You guys decide what is best.

Tobiko

Christian · 10-25-2002, 02:07 PM

don't worry ill take care of the seagull. illgive you an update on my smelt fishing skill advancement lesson when i get back.

Van · 10-25-2002, 02:18 PM

I think I'm gonna hit
Marina bay sunday AM with my son.

look for me and a bored 13 yr old.

Christian · 10-25-2002, 07:53 PM

ughhhhhhh. im back. fore river b&t was closed, so no shrimp, sportsmens den had no bait but clams and squid. got the squid cause the clams were in a huge package. went all the way back to marina bay, fished and caught nothing. i dont think ill ever go smelting without shrimp again. quite chilly out there but hot coco was good. anybody know how to keep the shrimp alive for long periods of time? like maybee a week or so?

19Mako · 10-26-2002, 11:24 AM

Don't waste your money on squid and clams, it won't work. The smelts will hit worms, nightcrawlers and seaworms. It's cheaper for trout worms.
I've seen some guys catch smelt with small pieces of cut up smelt.

Christian, looks like the rain stopped, I'll be there later for an hour or two around 3pm and tomorrow morning.
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> Forget it! it's pouring!!!!
see you guys tomorrow

Christian · 10-27-2002, 12:12 PM

might try today at friends marina while he is removing his boat from the water. worms eah? ill start digging.not going to anywhere near a bait store.
p.s. van, how did ya do?