Pike tipper the only legal way to fish for smelt in Vt is by hook and line. We used to be able to net them on Lake George in NY but not here. They are usually in fairly deep water from 40-120' and most fish for them with a hand line and a couple of pequway hooks and a scooter. The bait is usually a small slab cut from a smelt usually near the tail and hooked twice. It used to be really good here but when the Salmonid restoration in Lake Champlain started the numbers of smelt dropped. There are still some areas that have good catches but most people here fish for perch, blue gills, crappie, and sunnies.