By Eddie Hodgkin

There are a number of lakes in the state of Maine that have Jack Smelts, a large smelt not like the smelts people dip with a net in the spring. Jacks run from six inches to a foot long; they are usually caught with a jig stick.

A jig stick is a piece of wood about 10-11 inches long with dowels put through about two inches from each end; on this they wind the spinning line. The line should be 12-15 pound test; you need line this heavy, not because the fish are big but because when you get a fish you have to bring them in hand-over-hand. (A fine line will get tangled.) To this you tie on a #8 snelled hook and a large sinker. You need a big sinker to keep your line tight as you will be fishing in deep water and this makes your line sensitive so you can feel a touch – what smelters call a “bite.”

My first time smelt fishing was in 1945 on Coffee Pond in Casco. it was a cold Saturday morning; I had made some jig sticks at school and was here to catch smelts. The ice was 20 inches thick, and it was tough cutting, but I finally got two holes cut. My grandfather and uncle were there fishing; they had the holes they had cut the week before. I needed a lot of help; this wasn’t like the ice fishing I had done before.

First, the bait you use is cut from the side of a smelt; it is about an inch long and one-eighth inch wide. You stick your hook through the skin side on one end so it dangles; now you’re baited up. Let your line down to the bottom. Keeping your jig stick at the top of the ice, you bring your bait around 15 inches off bottom. Once this is done, you jig – move the bait up and down slowly about four inches – and jig. It was fun. I finally got the hang of it. This was the first time, but not the last. I’ve caught hundreds of smelts on many lakes – Sebago, Kezar, Brassua and Belgrade. I think the biggests smelts are caught in the Belgrade Lakes. I understand they get them up to a foot long. That’s a good fish, even it if is a smelt. The most I have gotten was in Island Falls at Edward’s Camps. Try it sometime, it’s fun!

Have a good day –

Go Fishing!