Smelting Success!! (in Minnesota)

[Gunflint]

Finally got a few gallons of the tasty morsels...

[tomturkey]

You are making my mouth water. I have not had fresh smelt in years. They are few and far between in Michigan any more.

[Gunflint]

You are making my mouth water. I have not had fresh smelt in years. They are few and far between in Michigan any more.

Not many in Minnesota either compared to when I was a kid smelting on Lake Superior. Back then it was by the washtub or trash can full. A few gallons now brings me back to that time.

[Reinhard]

I haven't gone after smelt in years.  When I lived in Duluth as a kid we went to the rivers and got a lot.  After they got the lampreys under control the predators like rainbows, lakers, and salmon have grown in population and now we have lesser runs but people still get their fill.  A lot get netted on park point also.  I actually fish for them through the ice and get enough for meals.  I fish Grindstone Lake for them.  They are suspended over deep water usually around 25 feet down.  good luck.

[Fry Flier]

When I was a young lad back in the 60's we had a cottage on the Canadian side of Lake Erie in the Port Dover area. People came from many miles around and fished our beach with permission and every day they left us a 5 gallon pale of smelt along with sausages and cheese. The one regular group would leave a steel bucket full of smelt already stripped out with about an inch or two of ice on top and put inside our outdoor fridge. If my memory serves me right my father usually ended up with a case of beer to go with the smelt from that group.

[OldSailor]

I netted smelt on Lake Superior when success was measured in trash cans!! Made for one heck of a smelt fry at the Legion!!

[Gunflint]

I netted smelt on Lake Superior when success was measured in trash cans!! Made for one heck of a smelt fry at the Legion!!

Yup, I remember. Doing inland lakes is not the same, but....

I caught 17 pounds last night in a small creek. 

I only had on short rubber boots and nearly all of them I caught by hand. I would see them in my headlamp and grab them in the very shallow water in and among the rocks. They were pretty thick at times and I even caught 3 at one time in one hand. VERY COLD HANDS.  Almost done cleaning.