Smelt [pics]
 

It's very early in the season for Smelt. Normally big numbers come very late ice. This year I found a new hot spot and numbers have been HUGE for me. Other guys are reporting terrible numbers, but I keep the secrets to myself.

Good eating ;)



First night out, 6 Hours and 239 fish.





Second night out, 4 hours and 290 fish.

Very nice!
Where I live there there going on the endangerd list this year I beleive.

what do you do with them, they look like sardines, surely you cant eat something that small, hehe :)

Nice catch, Buckhunter..My mouth is watering..!!...

Gangly...Lots of good eating there...Clean them with a pair of scissors....Just SNIP.....SNIP.... Cut off the head and up the body cavity and rake out the innards...

Then you batter them and fry them whole until crisp, and then munch 'em down, skin, bones, fins and all...

GOOOOOD eatin'....!!!.... They have a flavor all thier own...

with bones skin and all, i bet they do :). Nice large Catches BH14, congrats!

My Dad grew up in Champaign, Illinois, which is about as far south from Lake Michigan as you can buy them with any frequency in the state. When I was younger and we visited Champaign during the season, we never failed to come back with some. Couldnt get enough of those things. That brings back fond memories.

Lanse... I feel your pain...

20 to 30 years ago we had excellent smelting here in NY's Finger Lakes.. Albeit it was a spring dipnet fishery , but it was dependable..

Not much left now...The smelt seem extinct or nearly so in most of our lakes, and the remaining fishery ( Cayuga) has decreased greatly from what it once was..

Here we have both fresh and salt water smelts.. I like those little fresh water smelts the best. I haven't fished for them in years though.. I might just go out and catch some for bait though. Also we only have a 200 fish limit here.. When dipping it is 2 quarts only..

Dipping has pretty much came and gone from Michigan as well. I hear numerous stories about "back then" when people would line the truck beds and fill them up completely. These are honest stories. I guess that is why the fishery is the way it is today. We have a select few lakes with a steady population but they are targeted by many fisherman.



They sure work great for bait. I always keep a few out, keep some alive, and freeze some. This is the first year that Michigan has ever had a limit, it is 2 gallons. The last catch of mine was very close, right around 2/5ths of a five gallon pale so I figured to call it a night.

Yup. Back in late '60's early 70's, you could literally legally take gARBAGE CAN FULL per night at Tcanik Falls and Hector. Great tasting deli, downed with your favorite brew.