SMELT – FROZEN SEA FISHING & PIKE BAIT
Smelt is a superb small whole-fish bait for both pike and sea fishing. Its slim profile, silver skin and distinctive natural scent make it a particularly useful bait when you want something smaller and more subtle than a large mackerel, herring or roach.
Smelt can be fished whole, doubled up, cut into sections or combined with squid. For pike, its size makes it an excellent deadbait when a compact natural presentation is wanted. For sea fishing, whole smelt and smelt cocktails can account for bass, cod, rays, dogfish and other predatory species.
SMELT FOR PIKE
Smelt is particularly well suited to pike deadbaiting.
A whole smelt gives you a small, streamlined deadbait that can be presented naturally without the bulk of a large mackerel or roach. It's a useful option when pike are feeding on smaller prey fish or when you simply want to scale the presentation down.
Fish smelt ledgered on the bottom, float-ledgered or suspended beneath a float.
Use a Wrigglers Wire Pike Trace with Wrigglers Barbed Treble Hooks.
Size 8 — the standout choice for smaller smelt and neat whole-fish presentations.
Size 6 — larger smelt or a more substantial presentation.
Size 4 — generally better reserved for genuinely larger deadbaits rather than overpowering a small smelt.
Always use an appropriate wire trace when deliberately targeting pike, and keep the treble points exposed.
WHOLE SMELT
For pike, whole is one of the best ways to use smelt.
Its natural shape is already ideal for a compact deadbait, so there's often little reason to cut it up.
Mount it carefully so the fish remains straight and the hooks aren't buried in the bait.
DOUBLE SMELT
If individual smelt are small but you want a more substantial pike bait, two smelt can be presented together rather than immediately moving to oversized hooks.
This increases the overall bait size while retaining the characteristics of a small prey fish.
Match the treble size and spacing to the finished presentation.
SMELT FOR SEA FISHING
Smelt is also a versatile sea bait.
It can be fished whole for bass and cod, doubled or combined with squid for larger species, or cut into smaller pieces for general shore fishing.
BASS
A whole smelt gives you a very natural-looking small fish bait for bass.
Fish it on a Running Ledger or Pulley Rig with a Wrigglers Chinu Hook for a neat presentation.
For a larger smelt or doubled bait, step up to a Wrigglers Octopus Beak Hook.
Keep the bait streamlined and the hook point exposed.
COD
Smelt can be fished whole for codling or built into a larger bait when targeting better fish.
A whole smelt on a Pulley Rig with a Wrigglers Chinu or Octopus Beak Hook gives you a straightforward presentation.
For a larger cod bait, use two smelt together or combine smelt with squid, stepping up to a Wrigglers Takumi Wide Gape Long Shank or Octopus Beak Hook.
RAYS & DOGFISH
One smelt is relatively small for a serious ray bait, so this is where the bait should be built up rather than simply putting it on an unnecessarily large hook.
Use several smelt together or combine smelt with squid.
Fish the larger bait on a Pulley Pennel or Up & Over Rig with a Wrigglers Octopus Beak Hook.
Where a circle-hook presentation is preferred, use a Wrigglers Mutsu Circle or True Circle Hook matched to the finished bait.
SMALL SMELT BAITS
Smelt can also be cut into smaller pieces or strips for whiting, dogfish and general mixed-species fishing.
Fish these on a 2-Hook or 3-Hook Flapper Rig with Wrigglers Aberdeen or Chinu Hooks.
That also means smaller or damaged smelt don't need to be wasted.
SMELT & SQUID
This is one of the best ways to turn smelt into a larger sea bait.
Smelt gives you the natural whole-fish profile and scent, while squid provides additional toughness and helps the bait survive casting.
Lay a strip of squid alongside a whole smelt and bind it neatly with bait elastic.
For cod and bass, fish it on a Pulley Rig with a Wrigglers Octopus Beak or Takumi Wide Gape Long Shank Hook.
For rays, increase the bait size and use a Pulley Pennel or Up & Over Rig.
SMELT VS MACKEREL OR HERRING FOR PIKE
They do different jobs.
Mackerel and herring give you larger, very oily deadbaits with plenty of scent.
Smelt gives you a smaller, slimmer and more subtle whole-fish presentation.
That makes smelt a useful bait to have alongside the larger deadbaits rather than simply being another version of them.
COMPLETE YOUR SETUP WITH WRIGGLERS TACKLE
For pike fishing: Wrigglers Wire Pike Traces • Barbed Treble Hooks Sizes 8, 6 & 4 • Power Swivels • Pike Rig Components.
For sea fishing: Wrigglers Chinu Hooks • Aberdeen Hooks • Octopus Beak Hooks • Takumi Wide Gape Long Shank Hooks • Mutsu Circle Hooks • True Circle Hooks • Pulley Rigs • Pulley Pennel Rigs • Up & Over Rigs • Flapper Rigs • Power Swivels • Rig Line • Clips & Rig Components.
TOP TIP
For pike, don't ruin the main advantage of smelt by putting oversized tackle on it. A small whole smelt with appropriately sized trebles gives you the compact presentation you're buying the bait for.
For sea fishing, fish a good smelt whole first. If you need a bigger bait, double it up or add squid rather than turning it into an unnecessarily bulky lump.
SMALL WHOLE-FISH BAIT • SEA FISHING • PIKE DEADBAIT
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