My First Attempt at making a smelt bait

[B_Type13X2]

So I took some advice from some forum members via PM's and bought 2 bags of smelts and also took note on the 6 tubs of spotted shiners I have frozen in my freezer and decided to make a container of smelt's / Spotted Shiner baits.

Knowing that powerbait is salted/ greasy, a light bulb went off over my head, I will use some bacon fat grease in my Food color blend and Salt it as per this guide:

http://www.hotbite.com.au/content/fi...orm_speciesid=

I am making a rather large batch up and figure if done correctly I will have enough to last the whole season and into spring. When this is done I'll provide pictures of the finished product.

[Gust]

Originally Posted by B_Type13X2

So I took some advice from some forum members via PM's and bought 2 bags of smelts and also took note on the 6 tubs of spotted shiners I have frozen in my freezer and decided to make a container of smelt's / Spotted Shiner baits.

Knowing that powerbait is salted/ greasy, a light bulb went off over my head, I will use some bacon fat grease in my Food color blend and Salt it as per this guide:

http://www.hotbite.com.au/content/fi...orm_speciesid=

I am making a rather large batch up and figure if done correctly I will have enough to last the whole season and into spring. When this is done I'll provide pictures of the finished product.

The suspense is killing me, when are you going fishing?

[B_Type13X2]

Originally Posted by Gust

The suspense is killing me, when are you going fishing?

Saturday- Tuesday evening I blew over 3500$'s on my ice fishing gear alone this year so I need to get to it. Not to mention the money spent on buying a cabin lakefront so I can fish at it all summer...

Saturday is gonna be a chore though cause I am celebrating my 27th Bday tomorrow night so towing that sled onto the ice is gonna be an extra chore.

[Gust]

Originally Posted by B_Type13X2

Saturday- Tuesday evening I blew over 3500$'s on my ice fishing gear alone this year so I need to get to it. Not to mention the money spent on buying a cabin lakefront so I can fish at it all summer...

Saturday is gonna be a chore though cause I am celebrating my 27th Bday tomorrow night so towing that sled onto the ice is gonna be an extra chore.

Besides burnt toast, pulling a sled is the best thing for a hangover , oh , and hand augering,, though sounds like you got a motored auger, which is good -dont get me wrong- but that first blast of exhaust should bring up the last nights brew.

Either way, keep us updated.

[Mutter87]

This is interesting, I should do this with my bag of Herring.

It would be interesting to salt fresh sucker.
Can you freeze it after and have it not go wacky?

[B_Type13X2]

Originally Posted by Gust

Besides burnt toast, pulling a sled is the best thing for a hangover , oh , and hand augering,, though sounds like you got a motored auger, which is good -dont get me wrong- but that first blast of exhaust should bring up the last nights brew.

Either way, keep us updated.

As a welder I can say there is nothing better for a hangover then gouging/grinding then throwing up. But I'll keep everyone updated gonna start pictures of the whole process pretty soon here. My cats seem very interested in all the bait fish in a rather large Tupperware container. Hopefully it will offset just how angry the GF will be when she see's what's in it. That or the full day spa treatment I got for her and her sister as a distraction...

[B_Type13X2]

Originally Posted by Mutter87

This is interesting, I should do this with my bag of Herring.

It would be interesting to salt fresh sucker.
Can you freeze it after and have it not go wacky?

I don't think there would be a problem I imagine it would be similar to freezing something after Brineing it.

[B_Type13X2]

Also throwing some dried pickeled hearing into the mix Gust mentioned that it was great but the reason why he didn't keep fishing with it was because it was cost prohibitive.

Gonna see if this will create the greatest bait ever or flop terribly.

[Gust]

Hahahaha,,, just remember to remove the toothpick.

[B_Type13X2]

Originally Posted by Gust

Hahahaha,,, just remember to remove the toothpick.

But the tooth picks help hold the bait together...

[B_Type13X2]

Step 1: was to Thaw out the fish and dump the pickled herring on top.



Step: 2: Was to dump a full thing of green food dye and water into the container and then spend the next 30 minutes with gojo so as to make it seem like I didn't just jerk off the incredible hulk. Also letting it soak in the mix for 30 minutes I hope will yield a tinge of green without taking all the shine off the fish.



This is the step I am on right now.

[B_Type13X2]

After a 30 minute soak:



I like this color of green its there but its not overpowering so the shine sticks through.



Salted the bottom of the container:



First layer of bait fish



alternate salt and fish until full up.



Final step will be to strain the fluid off the top as I go retopping off with salt as needed.

And yes it smells as magical as one would think, Bacon grease, minnows, Smelts, Pickled Herring and Salt...

[Mutter87]

Looks like a great time. Can't wait to try it.

[anthony5]

Carefull on how long you leave your bait in the salt mix, if left to long it will really dry them out, 4-5 hours is lots for small bait. Been there done that

[huntsfurfish]

bait looks good!

[B_Type13X2]

Originally Posted by anthony5

Carefull on how long you leave your bait in the salt mix, if left to long it will really dry them out, 4-5 hours is lots for small bait. Been there done that

I sort of want it all dried out so I can store it for extended periods of time, I'll take it out of the salt once the bait stops producing that really lovely fish juice.

[MoFugger21]

Originally Posted by B_Type13X2

I sort of want it all dried out so I can store it for extended periods of time, I'll take it out of the salt once the bait stops producing that really lovely fish juice.

They don't need to be completely dried out in order to store them in the freezer for a prolonged period without them going bad or freezing all together like regular thawed bait. If the bait is too dried out it gets brittle and becomes almost useless.

[B_Type13X2]

Originally Posted by MoFugger21

They don't need to be completely dried out in order to store them in the freezer for a prolonged period without them going bad or freezing all together like regular thawed bait. If the bait is too dried out it gets brittle and becomes almost useless.

Fair enough but its still producing a crap ton of water I'll take it out of salt when the container isn't getting 1/8th full of water every 2 hours. My minnows that I put in there were definitely freezer burnt so I think its the excess water from them and the pickled herring. If it was just the smelts I know I would have been done long ago.

[cube]

Originally Posted by MoFugger21

They don't need to be completely dried out in order to store them in the freezer for a prolonged period without them going bad or freezing all together like regular thawed bait. If the bait is too dried out it gets brittle and becomes almost useless.

I have not found mine to get brittle, but then I never store them in the freezer after salting. Perhaps that's the differnce.

[MoFugger21]

Originally Posted by cube

I have not found mine to get brittle, but then I never store them in the freezer after salting. Perhaps that's the differnce.

I was getting at that if you leave the bait in the salt for toooooo long, it will dry out completely and become hard and brittle. Has nothing to do with putting them back in the freezer after curing them. Maybe brittle is the wrong word, but I'm sure you get what I mean.