Dead Bait

Has anyone tried dead smelt, cisco, or even big shinners or suckers yet for northern. The big females should be slowing down soon and going into spawn. I saw at Gens Bait the other day that they are carrying smelt, but havent heard of any success on it. Any info is always appreaciated. Thanks

I’ve never tried it, but have read articles and seen shows where they use it and it’s quite effective, especially when used on the type of tip ups that move the bait with the wind.
( I forget what they’re called). As far as big shiners and big suckers, I’ve used them and they work too, but if you’re on a lake with smaller northerns they might not be as effective.

We used to use smelt for northerns all the time. Being from the Duluth area we always had smelt. They also work for cut bait for catfish and whole for lake trout. We used to use a spinner that work great in the summer. I think it was called a strip on spinner) The double hooks were removed and the wire body of the spinner was thread through the smelt and the hooks reatached. This worked great in the summer time.We used smelt on tipups in the winter for northerns. I saw smelt at Wallmart I believe last Sunday in the frozen food department. One thing if you get a bag of smelt and you take a few fishing and you don’t catch anything you can always deep fry up the rest.

We use big dead ciscoes for pike late winter and all through May. We get some real pigs every year this way.

Hey everyone this is the Duck, Mud Duck that is. I am a firm believer in using smelt for pike. I have noticed that you seem to get larger fish on them. If you run dead bait use big hooks that are shaped like a triangle(dont know the name) they will keep the bait right side up instead of belly up. Hook the smelt behind the dorsal and run the hook up his body and have the tip of the hook just behind the head. You will have a better hookset because pike hit smelt head first. Also make sure the smelt are thawed, they reek( like you know what) so the fish oil is what attract them. Try to get smelt with guts, heads and tails. I prefer to run smelt in shallow water if you are on a lake I have had good luck on wind rocker tip ups. in shallow water I run them 1 ft below the ice with a wind rocker or a hole covered tip up. Tight lines #5

Hey Mr. Duck:

Just be careful what you preach as I am not sure that you are not talking about Swedish hooks, which have been illegal in Wisconsin for maybe as long as ten years now!!! Most of the guys that I know are running smelt and/or ciscos on quick strike rigs.

Mark