Good topic
The problem with the smolt is that they do not bite on just bait. Whether they bite on bait more then artificial lures I do not know. I do not use bait that much because I do not like the taste of fish and do not kill steelhead just for the eggs. I kill somewhere in the neighborhood of 4-6 fish a year for family and friends who like fish. If they are hens then I cure the eggs and use them. I am no bait expert but I catch far more steelhead on corkies, yarn and shrimp oil then I do eggs. On the other hand I probably clock in 10 times more hours on corkies then eggs.

Anyway my point is allot of steelhead smelt are killed with artificial lures also.

Once new a guy that used to go up on the Snoqualmie River where Tokul creek dumps in right at the hatchery. He and another guy would come back and say how they each caught 50 trout each in a matter of about 3 hours. Now you know as well as I do that these were steelhead smelt but I could not convince him of that. He did not use eggs, all his 4-inch trout/smelt were taken on little spinners.

I think it boils down in trying to educate those that are willing to listen. Unfortunately once people start catching fish often times they are unwilling to listen. Once he found out that those were smelt he should not have gone back to the Snoqualmie and fished more, unfortunately he did.