I see guys on the Wisconsin side of the Duluth shipping canal throwing cast nets and swinging dip nets. tonight. They must be after smelt. I haven’t done that in years. Not that I have any desire to again, but there are a lot out there tonight.
Its a good time. We used to drag nets along park point this time of year in college. They dont taste the best but it was fun!
man i sure could go for a good old fashioned Legion smelt fry….love”em. that and the tater salad!!!!
I bet it was cold out there!
man i sure could go for a good old fashioned Legion smelt fry….love”em. that and the tater salad!!!!
In the mid-1980s the local legion in the town I won’t name had discontinued its smelt fry because of supply and cost issues. 4 old duffers all in their 80s that were coffee drinking acquaintances of my dad at the local cafe approached him with their tale of woe.
All of them would live miserable lives and die broken men if they couldn’t have a smelt fry every year. They were all too old to fish them and clean them. The work was too hard. The paths too long and steep. They would all die smeltless,
Or perhaps dad could save them? 2 or 3 pails full. Or 4 would be better.
So off we went to the smelt lake, dad recruited the neighbors and we got after them in late March. 2 at a time on ice flies and half a wax worm. As fast as you could pull them up but getting the fly down to 50 feet was what took the longest.
We were there about an hour and here come the 4 codgers trudging across the ice. Risking life and limb to check on dinner. So Dad pressed them into service at the gutting table. 3 hours later they had their buckets full. Salvation was theirs. Almost.
We were packing up and the lead codger says to my dad, “Say, Michael, your wife makes the best potato salad does she not?”
Dad. “Hand me the fillet knife, son. I’m about to commit a murder.”
The lead codger was not deterred. “Could she just bring some to Ted’s garage about 6.00? That’s where we’ll be frying the smelt.”
And now the best part. Almost as a whisper, the lead codger says, “We don’t need too much. Tell Val a gallon and a half is fine.”
darn old farts!!! LOL!!!
Great story Grouse!
Bought a gallon out of Ashland today. I forgot how much they suck to clean. Can’t wait to fry some tomorrow. My wife has never had them and is excited to try them.
Bought a gallon out of Ashland today. I forgot how much they suck to clean. Can’t wait to fry some tomorrow. My wife has never had them and is excited to try them.
Dogs even more excited 
Out of curiosity, how much does a gallon of uncleaned smelt go for?
I wouldn’t mind prepping and freezing a bunch for bait.
Out of curiosity, how much does a gallon of uncleaned smelt go for?
I wouldn’t mind prepping and freezing a bunch for bait.
That gets awfully complicated unfortunately. https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/bait/index.html#:~:text=To%20help%20prevent%20the%20spread,any%20waterbody%20except%20Lake%20Superior.
Out of curiosity, how much does a gallon of uncleaned smelt go for?
I wouldn’t mind prepping and freezing a bunch for bait.
$15 for mine. It seemed like a million fish when cleaning them. 
I remember the last time my dad bought them. I dont remember the exact price but it was like a buck or 2 a pound more for cleaned ones. He went the cheap route and said never again.
I will be at Park Point tonight and will say smelting is alive and well!!!!
Its all about timing the run.
I’m not that young to pull nets all night and get up and go to work the next day but apparently my mind thinks I am.
I’ve seen anywhere from 15-30 a gallon and up to 130 for a 5-gallon pail. There are still guys that will net all night long, load on trailers and head to the cities.
I only need enough for my annual camper smelt fry and to gift to a few friends and family.
Good luck if you go!
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>glenn57 wrote:</div>
man i sure could go for a good old fashioned Legion smelt fry….love”em. that and the tater salad!!!!In the mid-1980s the local legion in the town I won’t name had discontinued its smelt fry because of supply and cost issues. 4 old duffers all in their 80s that were coffee drinking acquaintances of my dad at the local cafe approached him with their tale of woe.
All of them would live miserable lives and die broken men if they couldn’t have a smelt fry every year. They were all too old to fish them and clean them. The work was too hard. The paths too long and steep. They would all die smeltless,
Or perhaps dad could save them? 2 or 3 pails full. Or 4 would be better.
So off we went to the smelt lake, dad recruited the neighbors and we got after them in late March. 2 at a time on ice flies and half a wax worm. As fast as you could pull them up but getting the fly down to 50 feet was what took the longest.
We were there about an hour and here come the 4 codgers trudging across the ice. Risking life and limb to check on dinner. So Dad pressed them into service at the gutting table. 3 hours later they had their buckets full. Salvation was theirs. Almost.
We were packing up and the lead codger says to my dad, “Say, Michael, your wife makes the best potato salad does she not?”
Dad. “Hand me the fillet knife, son. I’m about to commit a murder.”
The lead codger was not deterred. “Could she just bring some to Ted’s garage about 6.00? That’s where we’ll be frying the smelt.”
And now the best part. Almost as a whisper, the lead codger says, “We don’t need too much. Tell Val a gallon and a half is fine.”
ONLY a gallon and a half.
Buddy and I pulled 24 gallons of smelt last night. I got 2.5 hours of sleep and headed into work. I am feeling it!
I gift most of mine with 4 gallons held for the Camper smelt fry.
Park point was on fire!
Shannon
Buddy and I pulled 24 gallons of smelt last night. I got 2.5 hours of sleep and headed into work. I am feeling it!
I gift most of mine with 4 gallons held for the Camper smelt fry.Park point was on fire!
Shannon
Is the area they run large enough to handle the crowd or is it terribly congested and difficult to fish?
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>sand-burr wrote:</div>
Buddy and I pulled 24 gallons of smelt last night. I got 2.5 hours of sleep and headed into work. I am feeling it!
I gift most of mine with 4 gallons held for the Camper smelt fry.Park point was on fire!
Shannon
Is the area they run large enough to handle the crowd or is it terribly congested and difficult to fish?
There’s 10+ miles of shoreline to net.
Getting a spot close enough to the truck is the hard part.
I had a group I used to go with each year on Park Point. We’d all get to the “tot-lot” early and had 3 Christianson nets with the sock to pull with. Boy we’d get alot of smelt some nights. Those Christianson nets were awesome. A PVC pole on each end to pull with made for a slick rig once you got it down.
Most of us used a pair of scissors to clean them, snip the head off slit the belly, squeeze the innards out in one pail and rinse in the next one and into ziplocs. Some we’d just freeze whole for pulling meat rigs for lakers in summer.
My first smelting trip was an after-bar trip from Silver Street in Hurley, WI to the mouth of the Montreal river in 1986. I was in college and I gotta tell you that was one crazy scene. 55 gallon barrels with fires going in them on the shore, folks mostly dip netting from the river mouth up to the powerhouse, and all night parties going on all over the whole place. Great memories for sure!
Had my first smelt go around last night. Working up in superior and met a buddy who lives up here. We by no means killed it but worth the experience with winds out of the NE and 6 foot rollers!
Crazy how the strong the undercurrent is with those waves, a few times could barely move the nets.
I had a college buddy from Proctor and he invited me to my first smelt outing. It was the early 80’s. Awesome memories of great people enjoying the outdoors and consuming adult beverages. I learned it was important to have a stringer for my six pack(s) of beer. Nothing like a Lake Superior cooled Schmidt beer.
I see a lot of smelt ads on marketplace. I would have thought that would be done long ago.
It’s been at least 30yrs but this takes me back to my days of hanging a work light and gill nets off the steel piers in Burnham Harbor in Chicago. My dad used to take us a few times a year and as soon as I was old enough to drive I would take my friends. I can still remember the drunks hollering COHO! whenever one came through.
I see a lot of smelt ads on marketplace. I would have thought that would be done long ago.
Are the ads for individuals/private party selling smelt? Is that legal without a commercial operators license? Just curious.
Yeah they seem to be individuals. No idea if it’s legal or they have a license or not but there are lots of ads.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>CaptainMusky wrote:</div>
I see a lot of smelt ads on marketplace. I would have thought that would be done long ago.Are the ads for individuals/private party selling smelt? Is that legal without a commercial operators license? Just curious.
Smelt spoil pretty easy so I’d be leary of these guys selling the smelt. And then the licensing to sell is yet another issue.
It is legal to buy and sell smelt.
Reports have been good. Reports coming out of the Ashland area about a week ago reminded me of the old school days of smelting. Filling up pickup boxes.
It is legal to buy and sell smelt.
Reports have been good. Reports coming out of the Ashland area about a week ago reminded me of the old school days of smelting. Filling up pickup boxes.
Good to know. I don’t know those the rules at all but I’ve seen a ton of adds on Facebook. You can about guess who the sellers are I won’t go into that.
The only 3 ads for a search on “smelt” that popped in my FB MP were 3 white dudes from duluth. Bummed out bc if it was local I’d be tempted to try em. You have other sellers ur seeing capt?
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