THE SMELTS 
269 
BAITS 
Smelts are more or less capricious, sometimes taking one bait when they will not 
take some other kind, and at another time bait previously refused will be taken with 
avidity. Almost all fishing is done with natural baits. The following notes have 
been extracted from articles elsewhere quoted. 
Shrimp . — “Shrimp and minnows.” (Forest and Stream, 1874.) “Shrimp is in 
great demand; clam worms used in fishing through the ice.” (Cutter, 1885.) Shrimp 
(Hallock, 1893). “* * * sea worm is the great bait for night fishing, while the 
shrimp, the best bait for day fishing, he finds almost useless for night use. Blood- 
worms are fair, but can not compare with the sea worm.” (“Hackle,” 1895.) 
The bait principally used here is shrimp, which can be netted in the marshes or bought at 
fish stores. * * * . Sea worms are good, also; they can be found on any beach or under the 
rocks. Another favorite is the bloodworm, a long thick almost white worm found near the salt 
water. It has a large vein filled with blood running through it, and is tough and lasting. Small 
minnows are sometimes used, and I have found them a good bait at night for large fish. Common 
garden worms are also used by some. (“Grif,” 1900.) 
At Freeport, Me., the most commonly used bait was young killifishes ( Fundulus 
heteroclitus ) , although occasionally shrimp (Crangon) was used. The killifishes, 
called “minnies,” were preferred, as they lived longer in a minnow bucket and were 
not so easily stolen from the hooks by the smelt. 
“ The fish seem to take worms, beef, and pork equally well [at Quebec].” (Cham- 
bers, 1903a.) 
METHODS 
They “ are taken in tidal currents along the coast with a light rod, hooks and line, 
baited with shrimp, two 6-inch snoods, with their hooks attached, being bent on to 
the ends of a wii'e spreader shaped like a letter A.” (Hallock, 1893.) 
Concerning the use of shrimp as bait, the same author (1893) says: 
Every boat is provided with a bait car filled with sedge grass or seaweed which keeps the shrimp 
fresh and active. The shrimp costs $2 a quart at the market, but if one wishes, and knows how, 
he can net his own shrimp in the creeks with a long-handled scoop. A gill of shrimp will answer 
to start with, but it will take about $5 worth to stock up a bait car for an afternoon’s fishing. 
Then the author facetiously adds: 
Hooks are put on lengthwise, the point into the tail, through the body and out at the head. 
Shrimp prefer it that way. By the time the novice has learned the trick most of the bait is gone. 
Just then the fish begin to bite sharp and he has to borrow. At the finish, after reckoning up all 
expenses of the outing, the boat hire, the bait, the rig, the car fares, the luncheon, and the Waukesha 
water, the amount of fun and fish required to balance the account is considerable. 
This [shrimp] should be placed on the hook tail first, the point of the hook almost coming out 
through the head. Some insist on breaking off the sharp little spike on the head of the shrimp, 
but this I consider unnecessary. (“Grif,” 1900.) 
One thing I have never seen in print about this fish, yet known by every initiated brother, is 
the manner in which it sometimes takes the bait. This is called sucking, and many a good fresh- 
water fisherman has been perplexed on raising his line to find the hooks skinned when he had not 
felt even a nibble. If you should ever get a chance to see the fish at low water (if you look close), 
you may see a smelt advance to the bait in a leisurely manner; about an inch from it he will stop, 
then opening his mouth very wide he will make no offer to touch the bait, but by suction will draw 
it toward and into his mouth; and all this time the mouth has never closed. And now is the time 
