Coronet Bay Smelt Fishing

We have been receiving some good reports on smelt fishing out of Coronet Bay. This is a very family friendly fishery that the whole family can participate in and enjoy. Requring the most basic of tackle you will need a typical trout fishing outfit, a Gamakatsu #4 Smelt / Herring Jig, some 3/8 - 1 ounce sinkers and a bucket in which to place your catch. Though there are a mulitude of sabiki style jigs on the market designed for this fishery however the Gamakatsu jigs are very simply put the only one to use. There are two public docks in the Coronet Bay State Park that you can fish from.  The first is the larger overnight moorage dock that is T shape in form and will provide ample space for a great number of smelt fishermen and the smaller boat launch docks to the east of the main dock.  If you do fish off of these make sure not to interfere with those boaters launching or retreiving their boats as this is the docks primary usage.

Remember to take along your Discovery Pass as this is a State Park area requiring the Pass for use of the facilities.  Make sure it is displayed on the dash of your vehicle or hanging off the rear view mirror.

The limit is 10 pounds per angler and everyone must have their own container.

No license is required for the smelt but a saltwter license is required if you want to retain the herring or shiner perch that are a frequent bycatch of the smelt fishery.

These smelt are extremely tasty little fish and one that I look forward to enjoying at this time of year.

As always make sure to read your WDFW regulation phamplet for all the particulars of this fishery.

Ted's has all of the gear that you will be needing for this outing and we'll be glad to help you out in any way.