I fish Smelt here in southwest Michigan. Gull Lake, Kalamazoo Co. to be exact. The last couple of years the Smelt seem to be hanging out in the deepest water for us. 60′ to 80′. We start at sundown right on bottom and as the night goes on they usually come up to about 20′. We can use lights here, so most people have the high intensity LED green lights they hang just under the ice. Theory being that it glows of off the ice straight down to get the plankton and small creatures active. What I do know for certain is to stay away from the big crowds with too much noise and too many lights. If you want to party get right in the middle of them, you will not be disappointed. We can also have multiple hooks on our lines. The most common is a 3 or 4 hook set up. I use # 14/16 flies tipped with a spike. They’re tied on using 1″ dropper loops about 6″ to a ft. apart. On the bottom most of us tie on a Hali or Sitka jig to help get the line down. Hope this helps others. We are fortunate to have such a good Smelt fishery here SW Mich. Tight lines!