Author Topic: smelt (Read 870 times)

kevin.303 · « **on:** February 13, 2004, 06:34:57 AM »

i was watching michigan out-of-doors last week and they where icefishing for smelt. i was wondering if they can be found as far east as my neck of the woods or if they are only native to the great lakes. i don't intend to eat em but they are one of my favourite bairs for trolling up big predatory fish like pike and muskies.

rwng · « **Reply #1 on:** March 11, 2004, 11:52:17 AM »

The only place I've ever caught 'em was on the Michigan side of the St.Claire river. I believe they would be by you since the were introduced to the Great lakes, not native.

Donna · « **Reply #2 on:** March 13, 2004, 02:40:29 AM »

Im in California and we have smelt along our cost line. I dont know if it is the same smelt or not but they make good baitfish and are a tastiest pan fryer.

Donna

kevin.303 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 13, 2004, 09:04:02 AM »

i actually meant the big lakes in manitboa but if they were not introduced here then i doubt it.

bgjohn · « **Reply #4 on:** March 13, 2004, 09:29:03 AM »

I thought I SMELT something. :lol: :lol: :lol:
JM

Shorty · « **Reply #5 on:** March 13, 2004, 02:24:29 PM »

Dipping for smelt is a springtime rite on Sebago Lake in Maine.

summitx · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2004, 05:44:30 AM »

we do the same thing up here in Alaska but they are called holigan, they say they are the same as smelt, but sure don't taste like the ones we caught up at Dulth MN. when I was a kid, they ended up kinda mushy

Selmer · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2004, 03:15:15 PM »

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but smelt are actually a sea-run freshwater fish, but can also reproduce in freshwater, I'll do a little internet research on this. They were introduced to the Missouri river in the 1970's and have thrived and become the main forage fish there.
http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/rainbowsmelt.html
Here's a website with a little info, I was right about the sea-run thing, and they were introduced to the Great Lakes. They also happen to be the finest dead bait available for northern pike!!!
Selmer

Gatofeo · « **Reply #8 on:** May 31, 2004, 06:00:39 PM »

Smelt are also found along the Oregon and Washington coast. My father, before I was born (1955), used to dip them out of the coastal rivers as they ran up from the ocean.
Later, when I was raised 300 miles inland in Spokane, we bought ours from the grocery store.
Mmmmmmmm .... clean them like trout, mix some salt and pepper with corn meal, place the cleaned, wet smelt in a big bag with the corn meal mix and shake vigorously. When the smelt are evenly coated, fry them in bacon grease, lard or butter.
Serve with corn and cornbread.
I bought some here in Utah a couple of months ago. They were from Canada and very black, compared to the silver-sided smelt I had in Washington. Much smaller too, some only the size of a ring finger. The smelt I had in Washington ran 5 or 6 inches.
Had to toss these Canadian smelt away after I cooked the first batch. Tasted soooo fishy they were unpalatable. Might have been spoiled but I bought them frozen. Ack!
They were decidedly not the smelt of days gone by.
Of course ... when I was a little sprat ... we used smelt as bait to catch Plesiosuars and Paleotrout ... with line made from the intestines of a brontosaurus!

willysjeep134 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 09, 2004, 09:39:59 AM »

Smelt were introduced to the great lakes about 100 years ago. AN inland lake was stocked with them, and they somehow entered the big lake Michigan. They generally run up streams (although not in the past few years :cry: ) where we dip them with nets. The ones we used to dip were about 3-4 inches long. Larger ones can be caught through the ice, but I've never seen anybody do it. If your lakes haven't been stocked with smelt you probably won't find any.