Jack Smelt
 

I paddled out to La Jolla yesterday and picked up plenty of Jack Macs for bait, but also in the mix was the Jack Smelt. They seem lively enough but the only things that seemed to bother them was the birds flying over. Have you guys used the smelt for bait, and do they would O.K.

Ive used Jack Smelt dozens of times while fishing near shore/ Piers, theyre candy bait for Halibut.

I have tried smelt dozens of times and have yet to catch anything but lizards
but as stated, I hear it's good for butts..

This I figured would be the ticket, but has anyone caught WSB or YT with them? I caught a Calico yesterday trolling a mac, that shocked me.

The first yellowtail I ever caught was on a jack smelt. A monster of 8 lbs inside the kelp. I seem to remember a 50+ yellowtail a few years ago that was caught on a smelt. Supposedly white seabass like smelt. Still I don't think a smelt would be my 1st choice, unless I was fishing halibut.

What I did think was mean though I threw off a smelt that was almost dead from me dragging it along and about 2 minutes after that I hear this fish and see the fish suck the bait in and the fish looked like a yellowtail. So I think the fish were all toying with me yesterday. I saw Black Sea Bass, White Sea Bass, Yellows. They are all out there, it's just getting them to bit is the trick. Making bait yesterday was pretty easy compared to the last time I went out.