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ERIC SHARP: Smelt run could be on the rise
April 9, 2004
BY ERIC SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
This is the time of year people call to ask about smelt runs, and for the past few years I've had to tell them the little silver fish are few and far between and seem to be getting fewer.
But if what's going on in Port Huron is any example, this might be the year of the return of the smelt, at least in Lake Huron.
"For the past couple of nights, people have been doing pretty well dipping along the seawalls," Joel Anderson said Thursday. "Last week, the water was pretty muddy, but once it cleared up, the smelt were there.
"I almost hate to give a smelt report today because people think you're handing them a line of bull. But from what I'm hearing, smelt numbers are up."
Anderson owns Anderson's Pro Bait in Port Huron.
Smelt, four to 10 inches long, were introduced to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean more than 100 years ago. They have become a major food source for salmon, walleye and other predators, but smelt numbers have been dropping as the predator numbers increase.
Most smelt spawn in shallow water off beaches, but a portion of the breeding population runs up streams and fishermen catch them with dip nets.
We might never see smelt runs that I knew as a kid more than 40 years ago, when smelt made up the bulk of the biomass in the lakes after the decline of predatory game fish. The runs in tiny creeks were so thick back then that we would lay aside our dip nets and grab the smelt out of the water six at a time with our hands.
As you stood in the stream with your flashlight playing on the water, it looked as if you were in a river of molten silver that rattled off your waders. The fish poured upstream by the tens of thousands.
The run takes place at night, usually starting a couple of hours after dark and ending after midnight, which was another reason kids loved smelt dipping. You got to stay out late on school nights.
And then there was the delight of a smelt dinner. The fastidious took the time to gut the tiny fish, but most people simply covered them in batter, deep-fried them and ate them innards and all, like the expensive white bait popular in many saltwater restaurants.
The St. Clair River and southern Lake Huron get some of the earliest runs in the state, and there have been no reports of significant runs from other places in Michigan.
"I don't know how long this run will last," Anderson said. "Years ago, it would go on for two, three weeks. Now it's usually a few days. But maybe this year will be longer."
If anyone hears of smelt running anywhere else, give me a call.
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com. Order his book "Fishing Michigan" for $15.95 at www.freep.com/bookstore or by calling 800-245-5082.
April 9, 2004
BY ERIC SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
This is the time of year people call to ask about smelt runs, and for the past few years I've had to tell them the little silver fish are few and far between and seem to be getting fewer.
But if what's going on in Port Huron is any example, this might be the year of the return of the smelt, at least in Lake Huron.
"For the past couple of nights, people have been doing pretty well dipping along the seawalls," Joel Anderson said Thursday. "Last week, the water was pretty muddy, but once it cleared up, the smelt were there.
"I almost hate to give a smelt report today because people think you're handing them a line of bull. But from what I'm hearing, smelt numbers are up."
Anderson owns Anderson's Pro Bait in Port Huron.
Smelt, four to 10 inches long, were introduced to the Great Lakes from the Atlantic Ocean more than 100 years ago. They have become a major food source for salmon, walleye and other predators, but smelt numbers have been dropping as the predator numbers increase.
Most smelt spawn in shallow water off beaches, but a portion of the breeding population runs up streams and fishermen catch them with dip nets.
We might never see smelt runs that I knew as a kid more than 40 years ago, when smelt made up the bulk of the biomass in the lakes after the decline of predatory game fish. The runs in tiny creeks were so thick back then that we would lay aside our dip nets and grab the smelt out of the water six at a time with our hands.
As you stood in the stream with your flashlight playing on the water, it looked as if you were in a river of molten silver that rattled off your waders. The fish poured upstream by the tens of thousands.
The run takes place at night, usually starting a couple of hours after dark and ending after midnight, which was another reason kids loved smelt dipping. You got to stay out late on school nights.
And then there was the delight of a smelt dinner. The fastidious took the time to gut the tiny fish, but most people simply covered them in batter, deep-fried them and ate them innards and all, like the expensive white bait popular in many saltwater restaurants.
The St. Clair River and southern Lake Huron get some of the earliest runs in the state, and there have been no reports of significant runs from other places in Michigan.
"I don't know how long this run will last," Anderson said. "Years ago, it would go on for two, three weeks. Now it's usually a few days. But maybe this year will be longer."
If anyone hears of smelt running anywhere else, give me a call.
Contact ERIC SHARP at 313-222-2511 or esharp@freepress.com. Order his book "Fishing Michigan" for $15.95 at www.freep.com/bookstore or by calling 800-245-5082.
