Despite their diminutive size, compared to other game fish, smelt garner an inordinate amount of attention from Maine ice fishermen. This thin, silvery, almost transparent fish is an important food source for trout and salmon. Anglers tend to find these svelte silver darters quite tasty as well.

Smelt have their spawning runs just after ice-out in the spring, most often at night, and on waterways where netting is allowed, an altogether different style of fishing can be experienced during these runs. Freshwater smelt have a mild cucumber odor when first caught and generally average 5 to 7 inches in length. Some lakes have a larger variety called jack smelt, and these can measure up to 14 inches.

Handlining or “jigging” for smelt is an age-old Maine tradition that is practiced and enjoyed just as much today as by our great grandfathers. Smelt fishing tends to be most dependable for two or three weeks after ice forms on a lake. Taking unusually cold Decembers into account, a few lakes have special regulations allowing smelting as soon as a safe layer of ice freezes up, although other game fish won’t be legal until January.

Many waterways with fishable smelt populations are open to fishing at night. Each county has special rules concerning these waterways and fishing after dark. To be safe and sure, check your law book.

Night fishing actually occurs during a very active feeding time, along with dawn and dusk. After the early-season action wanes, evenings are generally the most dependable and productive time to fish. As far as anglers who have to work all day are concerned, consistent night fishing action fits their schedule just fine.

On mild temperature days with little or no wind, drilling a hole and setting out on the open ice and hand jigging is great fun. At night or on frigid, stormy days, the sanctuary of an ice fishing hut is indispensable. Devout smelt fishermen set shanties on a nearby lake, populous with smelt, and visit several times a week when the bite is on.

Exceptional smelt waters have small villages of fish huts appear during January. A good stove, comfortable seats, gas or electric lights, and a large fishing hole are the basics. Top-of-the-line shanties that are visited almost nightly will have cook stoves, a table for food or cards, electricity from shore, and a radio or even a television. A few even have a cot for catnaps between feeding frenzies, by smelts and humans.

Smelt fishing is a wonderful way to introduce youngsters to ice fishing. They needn’t brave long hours outside in the snow and cold and get bored when big-game fish ignore their offerings. Smelt are always somewhat cooperative and the kids can spend some time in the ice hut and some outside if the weather permits. Night trips for smelt are always exciting for the neophyte ice anglers, since this is a unique style of fishing.

Best baits

Without a doubt, the very best smelt bait is another smelt. Once the first smelt is caught, it is filleted and each filet is sliced into thin strips. The cuts are made back to stomach, not head to tail since these slices would be far too long to fish with. Each chunk of meat will have the outside skin attached to one side, and once this is threaded onto a hook, the tough skin keeps it from being pulled off by aggressive fish. It’s not unusual to catch half a dozen smelt on one piece of bait.

Many old timers swear by the throat as the finest piece of bait. This is the pearly, iridescent piece of tissue that is part of the upper digestive tract and easily located and obtained by cleaning a fish. Very tough tissue, a silvery throat is good for dozens of smelt before it needs to be replaced.

Fresh bait is essential for consistent action. Change baits every 30 minutes when action is slow; often the smell of a new piece of bait will perk up the appetite of nearby fish. Also, the pulling in and feeding out of the handline during the rebaiting process will spread the odor at various depths and the flash of the bait as it undulates will attract some attention as well.

What to use for bait to catch that first smelt is the stickler. A piece of marshmallow, hot dog, Vienna sausage, or hard-boiled egg white will work. A small ball of white bread, a sliver of suet or beef fat, or dyed fish eggs have all fooled a hungry smelt or two. My favorite by far is a small chunk of raw or cooked shrimp. In fact, if not for the cost, and the waste of a tasty appetizer, shrimp would be a great full-time bait.

Many hardcore smelters leave a fish in the shanty to freeze and be ready for the next visit. Others freeze a couple at home so they will always have some bait to start with. The only drawback to this idea is that once frozen and thawed, smelt meat becomes soft and doesn’t stay on the hook well. It’s better than no bait, however, and you only need to fool one fish to have all new bait.

Tackle and techniques

There are three basic methods to fish for these small gamefish: jigging rod, handline, or suspended line. Even the lightweight, thin-tipped jig rods are often not sensitive enough to transmit the delicate take of a smelt. Due to this shortcoming, only a few regional ice drillers utilize mini-rods for smelt. Jig rods are an acquired taste, however, and they grow on you, and like most fishing methods, they are worth a try.

Handlines are simple, lightweight lines with a leader or full monofilament lines, weighted with a split shot the size of a pencil eraser. The sinker helps get the bait back down to fishing depth quickly, holds the line straight and prevents tangling. A straight, slightly weighted line will show a strike quicker than a free line and assure better, more frequent hookups. Sinkers should be placed 6-12 inches above the hook.

Anglers constantly hold the handline in their fingers, allowing them to sense the most dainty nibble. Consistent digital contact allows the line and bait to be twisted, strummed, jigged, and even brought to the surface hand over hand and released to free-fall back to depth. All of these motions spread the smell of the bait and attract smelt visually. Handlining is an excellent way to hook most of the smelts that bite, but unless you’re truly ambidextrous, it’s one-line-at-a-time fishing.

Static lines

Most smelt anglers prefer to have at least three lines in the water at all times. Not only does this increase the chance of a bite, but baits can be suspended at various depths until one particular bait produces consistently, and then all baits can be adjusted to take advantage of the current feeding depth. Generally, multi-line setups are reserved for inside a smelt hut. Since one angler can’t hang onto three or four lines and properly control them, each one is attached to a stationary object.

Some shanties have a railing 3 feet or so over the fish holes, sort of like a handrail on a set of stairs. Smelt lines can be attached to this and dropped into the water directly below. Huts with no rail have nails driven into the overhead beams right over the hole so lines can be tied off at these positions. Fishing lines suspended from solid points are called hung, stationary, or static lines.

Although up to five smelt lines may be used on most lakes, when fish are active, these are far too many lines to tend efficiently. Beyond this, static lines have the downfall of showing very little movement when a fish takes the bait, due to a solid tie-off spot. One trick to getting around this is to half hitch the line to a thin rubber band and half hitch the elastic to a nail, pin or tack. The stretchy elastic and line shows even the slightest up-and-down motion.

Another technique to achieve more static line motion is to use a short piece of coat hangar or medium stiff wire attached to the rail or ceiling as a tie-off point. A 3-inch length of wire has enough give to allow the line to bob up and down a bit when a fish grabs the bait.

Outside smelt anglers can rig static lines by cutting a 16- to 20-inch limber switch from a shoreline tree and trimming off any protruding branches or nubs. The piece of limb is then seated in a packed pile of snow beside an ice hole in such a manner that the tip extends out over the hole. Fishing line is then half-hitched to the branch so it hangs straight down into the water. The springy branch exaggerates line motion when a smelt bites the bait.

Match game

One last trick. Carry a dozen or so wooden matches in your pocket or pack basket with your hooks, sinkers and extra line. Inside or outside, attach a match 6 to 12 inches above the water level to each smelt line using a half hitch and then a reverse half hitch around the center of the match shaft.

Even the lightest strike will be transmitted up the line to the match, which will twitch and wiggle. Smelt that take the bait and move in any direction will be given away as the match swings toward the edge of the ice hole. The match also provides a gripping spot to set the hook.

By the way, all smelt lines should be securely tied to a short narrow piece of wood notched at each end. Before transporting, wind the line on and bury the hook into the wood and everything stays untangled. An augured ice fishing hole seems small, but it’s amazing how often a dropped item will find its way into the water. A floating line holder saves many a cold, clumsy fingered slip; now if only ice scoops would float.

Smelt fishing is a fun pastime for young and old ice drillers, and unlike most other gamefish, these tiny silver darters are plentiful, widespread, and consistently voracious. Equipment is basic and inexpensive, simple to use, and very dependable when combined with a few tricks and some hands-on manipulation. Smelt are also very tasty tablefare. Visit a nearby lake and drop a line to Maine’s smallest gamefish, you’ll enjoy some big action.

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached at graves@umpi.maine.edu