I've only targeted smelts once, but I was outfishing my shack mate 5:1 using gulp alive 1.5" chartreuse grubs on a size 6 or 8 jighead hook. I highly recommend them!

When do smelt start running?
#21
Posted 25 December 2014 - 10:19 AM
#22
Posted 25 December 2014 - 10:48 PM
#23
Posted 29 December 2014 - 06:14 PM
You guys got smelts last year on 4cm grubs??? were they pretty big smelts?
#24
Posted 29 December 2014 - 08:59 PM
caught smelts in the Kenny last year through the ice 15" long. which are monsters compared with the little "tinkers" I am used to in NS. lol
#25
Posted 30 December 2014 - 11:00 AM
Mack, what part of the kenny was that, and was it in deeper water or closer to shore?
Just about all of the ones I got at Cameron Road were of the "tinker" class - didn't even have to take the backbone out to crunch 'em down in a feed.
And I'm in the other party, that has had no luck at all with anything artificial as a lure when I did try 'em. Most of my success was through either shrimp or prawn (when I could find 'em) dipped in the "magic dust" that is corn meal.
#26
Posted 30 December 2014 - 11:25 AM
#27
Posted 30 December 2014 - 12:43 PM
You guys got smelts last year on 4cm grubs??? were they pretty big smelts?
Up in Campbelton area. check them out at the store. Some Canadian Tires have them. I saw them there yesterday in Oromocto. They say 1.5", but I think that is total length if you stretched out the tail straight back. The body on them are only about 1/4-1/2" at most.
#28
Posted 15 January 2015 - 06:07 AM
I'm hearing reports in the lower part of the province that as of last weekend the run's just starting up at Dominion Park (Saint John area, about 10km from the mouth of the river), although things sounded quiet further up on the Kennebecasis. Any being caught at the usual inland haunts yet? Good sizes or quantities?
#29
Posted 16 January 2015 - 11:06 AM
sdavis I agree those gulp works great for smelts...we use the same ones..as well as the small minnow version to catch smelts on Grand lake...smelt on Grand seem to be extremely predatory...favorite bait are small live minnows about an inch -2inches long on a single #10 or 12 octopus hook, or the gulps on a perch jig..not uncommon to get ones over a foot long..although they are in a lot less numbers than on the river
#30
Posted 17 January 2015 - 08:01 PM
Any smelt yet at Renforth,Cameron Road, or Public Landing???
#31
Posted 18 January 2015 - 07:06 PM
They're at Dominion Park in west Saint John, although not running hard yet. TheRealCraigAC and I got 10 this afternoon, ranging from 5" to 8" in length. I expect they'll be at Cameron very soon if not already there.
#32
Posted 19 January 2015 - 01:35 AM
#33
Posted 20 January 2015 - 08:17 PM
#34
Posted 20 January 2015 - 10:21 PM
It's still pretty early yet. Probably another two or three weeks before there's a good run at Cameron.
#35
Posted 21 January 2015 - 05:48 AM
There was a half-page Belleisle Bay smelt-fishing write-up in the Tuesday Telegraph Journal (page B6). Mostly about a cluster of a few smaller-community fishers, but Renforth was mentioned as a "well organized" spot. Two guys caught one tiny smelt up there over three hours, high-fived each other and went back to fishing. At least as of the reporter's visit, I think it's fair to say there wasn't much action up there yet.
Cameron definitely seemed to be the best regional hot-spot last year in terms of quantity, at least compared to Dominion (can't speak for Renforth). Smelt were generally quite small (you could just crunch 'em down backbone and all!), but once the run got going in February-ish, the action was fairly consistent.
#36
Posted 22 January 2015 - 05:14 AM
As for smelt action , today was a good day at Cameron ... Got a few nice ones ! They are on there way in !! And tons. Of tommy cod !!!
#37
Posted 22 January 2015 - 01:54 PM
As for smelt action , today was a good day at Cameron ... Got a few nice ones ! They are on there way in !! And tons. Of tommy cod !!!
So what does that mean, exactly? Did you get to do a smelt fry tonight? Or is that still a ways off?
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