Use little fish to catch big fish

 As a devout fly fisherman, sometimes I get tunnel vision regarding what baits work best to catch trout and salmon. Height, clarity, and temperature of lakes and streams as well as ambient temperature and time of year all affect fishes’ feeding habits. As much as I enjoy playing fish on a fly, when fish ignore feathered offerings, some action on bait or lures is far better than none at all. Under certain conditions, properly presented minnows and smelt produce consistent strikes and larger fish during open water season.
Just how effective bait fish are on game fish came to light last week during a trolling trip to Long Lake in Sinclair. Dave Ash and I had been dragging tandem streamers for nearly two hours with only one three pound salmon to show for our efforts. Five other boats worked the same area and all but one remained fishless. A single angler in one watercraft hooked fish every 30 minutes or so, and as our boats passed closely during one trolling pass the sportsman set the hook again.
A silver landlocked catapulted skyward in the boat wake and it was so large my jaw dropped and I stopped my motor to observe the battle. After 10 minutes or so the nimrod worked the big fish near boatside and I dug out my camera and drifted close to snap a photo. When the sport finally netted the feisty fish and carefully removed the hook for a quick release I captured several photos of the event. We all agreed the salmon easily weighted over seven pounds!
Gene Bradbury of Woodland, a long-time educator and school administrator in Aroostook County, now enjoys retirement and attending to schools of fish rather than pupils. He explained that flies and lures were offering only marginal success, perhaps because the salmon had moved deeper, but occasional fish still popped up to check the surface for dead or dying smelt. Since smelt were still plentiful, trolling a live smelt on a slider rig garnered far more attention than fake feathers, plastic plugs or shiny metal lures. Seeing is believing, and that monster landlock was proof enough for Dave and I.
Proving himself a true sportsman, Gene dug out an extra slider outfit and even provided a lively smelt so we could experiment for ourselves. He had actually dipped a few smelt the previous evening from a brook entering Long Lake. The nice feature of a slider is its ability to be fished just under the surface using a fly rod or light spinning outfit, or as the fish move deeper when hot weather arrives, sinking fly lines or even lead core may be used to present enticing smelt right under the fish’s nose. Sliders are easy to hook up, simple to use and there’s no better bait than the real thing.
Lest anyone get the idea that live bait only works for ice fishing and spring trolling, let me set the record straight. When the hottest days of summer raise water temperatures and deplete water levels in area brooks and streams, driving trout to the deep holes, live minnows are the answer. For the most part fish ignore artificial baits during sweltering weather, but drift an injured baitfish through a spring hole, deep run, or cold brook inlet and a trout will grab it.
I can remember my Dad tossing an aluminum minnow trap baited with bread pieces into a nearby lake at dusk, then retrieving dozens of every shape, size and species of minnow the next morning. Quickly transferring the bait fish into a two-piece minnow bucket for transport, he’d head for the Prestile. Hopscotching from one deep holding pool to another Dad would make a dozen or so casts with a light spinning rod, small split shot and a free swimming minnow hooked near the dorsal fin. Invariably he caught trout, some of the largest of the season, when many anglers didn’t even bother going out due to the hot weather and slow fishing.
Trolled smelts are still catching fish near the surface on regional lakes, and will continue to for a couple more weeks. After mid-June it’s just a matter of fishing the smelt deeper using a fish finder to locate the depth of trout and salmon as the water warms. When summer dog days arrive, turn to tossing minnows into deep holes along favorite streams, they’ll out-fish flies and worms almost every day. Be sure to check the current law book as certain waterways have specific regulations against using live bait.  For the most part however, nothing catches big fish like little fish, give live bait a try.