Smelts

[bigugli]

Now I'm used to seeing all sorts of smelt caught by net in the spring, but I'm relatively new to jigging through the ice for them in Ontario.

 

I know that in Nova Scotia you could not net them. You wait till there is good ice on the coastal bays and you jig for big Atlantic smelts that are 8-12" long. Preferred bait is the eyeball.

 

Got out for a few hours yesterday with my son and 2 friends and we had fun. I tried 3 different baits. Gulp maggots, a piece of yarn and eyeballs. Eyeballs produced the fewest hits. Fish were biting non stop. A lot of big (for Ontario) 7-8" smelts in the schools. I felt like a kid let loose in a candy store pulling up 2 or 3 fish every minute and firing the small ones back down the hole. The fish were only 6-18 inches below the hole so you watched them bite and jerk it up. If you are too slow they shake off and back down the hole. The smaller smelts nibble or suck on the baits, but the big ones slam like a pike when you drop the rig down the hole.

Unfortunately, maybe fortunately, the back can only handle being hunched over the hole for about 4 hours. Then it is time to quit. Then comes the hard part. Cleaning and packing the smelts took 5 hours to finish. Man is it worth it.

 

 

It may look like a lot, but they'll disappear in the frying pan real fast. Especially after I've dropped some off to some of the old timers I know who can't get out any more.

Edited January 9, 2009 by bigugli

[jwl]

that looks like a good haul Bruce..atleast you guys got out and into something around here, I been waiting for the river to turn green again.. , not much into fishin for minnows I certainly ain't going to eat them maybe soon we can give some ice pikin a try, or when the river clears we get out in my boat for some killer steelie action..ummm..or both

Edited January 9, 2009 by jwl

[Beats]

Nice haul. I've only ever used them frozen as bait. I have seen them on at least one menu at a local diner before.

 

Do you just cut the heads off and cook them whole? I take it the bones are so tiny they "cook out" and aren't really noticed? I've always been curious as to how ppl prepare them. Can't tell from the pic, but do you slice their bellies open?

Edited January 9, 2009 by Beats

[Billy Bob]

We ALWAYS cleaned them with scissors but we cut off the head and cut the belly to remove the entrails. I don't think you are suppose to eat the entrails especially if from Lake Ontario.

[nancur373]

Have't eaten smelt since I was a kid. But caplin, man there's a great meal. Just dried and then heated, heads, tails, and guts all in tact. Yummmmm!

 

Curt

 

[bigugli]

Heads off, belly opened and guts scraped out. Roll in flour, quick panfry in butter, grab the tail, slide the fish tween the tongue and your teeth. Yummy!.

 

Good alternative is to roll em in a cajun mix. The hottest mix I've tried was a bucket of Uncle Buck's Cajun that I got at Christmas a year back.

Edited January 9, 2009 by bigugli

[Mike Pike]

I had some fried Erie Smelt at Calahan's( in Port Dover )a few months back and forgot how absolutely tasty those little buggers are. Bon apetite Bigugly!

[Leecher]

Great report and pic Bruce

 

Looks like you guys had a fun time out there and put a beating on them... WTG

Never had smelt before.... how do they taste? Is it similar to sardines?

Thanks for sharing

Leechman

[jwl]

Heads off, belly opened and guts scraped out. Roll in flour, quick panfry in butter, grab the tail, slide the fish tween the tongue and your teeth. Yummy!.

 

Good alternative is to roll em in a cajun mix. The hottest mix I've tried was a bucket of Uncle Buck's Cajun that I got at Christmas a year back.

 

I remember the one fish fry we had at your place a while back and we couldn't cook the stash of smelts you had fast enough for the vultures...heck we had tonnes of fish and couldn't keep up to the masses, all that was left for us cooks was the greasy napkins to lick and a couple little batter nuggets

 

so we need to do that again soon, I had to miss the last one,I got some walleye and pike in the freezer

[bigugli]

I remember the one fish fry we had at your place a while back and we couldn't cook the stash of smelts you had fast enough for the vultures...heck we had tonnes of fish and couldn't keep up to the masses, all that was left for us cooks was the greasy napkins to lick and a couple little batter nuggets

 

so we need to do that again soon, I had to miss the last one,I got some walleye and pike in the freezer

 

kinda had the same thought, Jack. Of course, we could just bring the fryer out onto the ice and fry up smelts while a bunch of us are out jigging for more fishies. Hmmmmmm???

[jwl]

kinda had the same thought, Jack. Of course, we could just bring the fryer out onto the ice and fry up smelts while a bunch of us are out jigging for more fishies. Hmmmmmm???

 

alright, but I will bring my own fish from home just incase...you guys can have my catch of minnows....I like my fish a little less, ummm...boneless,skinless,tailless, and finless.

 

does sound tempting, and a heck of a way to warm up on a cold day

 

Perhaps chipping in on a road trip soon is in order,althuogh all my ice fishing gear is pretty much at my trailer

[bigugli]

alright, but I will bring my own fish from home just incase...you guys can have my catch of minnows....I like my fish a little less, ummm...boneless,skinless,tailless, and finless.

 

does sound tempting, and a heck of a way to warm up on a cold day

 

Perhaps chipping in on a road trip soon is in order,althuogh all my ice fishing gear is pretty much at my trailer

Sounds like a good reason to go up and retrieve your gear It should only take 2 or 3 days

[Sinker]

Have't eaten smelt since I was a kid. But caplin, man there's a great meal. Just dried and then heated, heads, tails, and guts all in tact. Yummmmm!

 

Curt

 

 

 

 

Now thats how ya do it!!!

 

Oh me son, that looks some shockin good!!!

 

 

Sinker

[misfish]

Have't eaten smelt since I was a kid. But caplin, man there's a great meal. Just dried and then heated, heads, tails, and guts all in tact. Yummmmm!

 

I remember the days when we would hit the rocky shores and scoop up the Kap. Man those were the days. Best eat,n I would say. Well ,cod cakes come first.LOL

[pike slayer]

every spring i net them in the rivers around here in the sault. me and my buddy both get a 5gallon bucket each in about 20min if you hit it at the right time. just gut them and chop the head off and batter and there you are, dont taste anything like sardines. sooo good.

[bigugli]

every spring i net them in the rivers around here in the sault. me and my buddy both get a 5gallon bucket each in about 20min if you hit it at the right time. just gut them and chop the head off and batter and there you are, dont taste anything like sardines. sooo good.

 

I remember the crowds that would show up for smelts around the Soo, St Mary's, and the Huron Shore. Got so bad at times, every available OPP officer would be along the waterfront doing crowd control and keeping us from trying to kill each other.

You could run Hwy 17 doing 140 from Sudbury to the Sault and not see a cop anywhere. Did it once when Easter and the smelt run coincided. Had to get to the in-laws before sunup Good Friday. Out fishing that night til the next dawn.

[jwl]

used to be able to get them by the garbage pail full in an hour or so down in the Lower Niagara, I remeber going with my neighbours and thier parents when I was a kid, everyone in the place would be hauling them in so much your net could barely handle the weight, 1 -2 dips and you probably had 150lbs worth, and back then some where a good 12-14 inchers and fat as a good keeper perch.

[Zebco]

used to be able to get them by the garbage pail full in an hour or so down in the Lower Niagara, I remeber going with my neighbours and thier parents when I was a kid, everyone in the place would be hauling them in so much your net could barely handle the weight, 1 -2 dips and you probably had 150lbs worth, and back then some where a good 12-14 inchers and fat as a good keeper perch.

 

 

Roflmao 75 pounds a pull eh, musta been the size of perch.

[Sinker]

I would LOVE to know a spot where I could catch smelts thru the ice. That would bring back some great memories for sure!!

 

Looks like you guys got a great feed of them!!! I'm jealous!!

 

Sinker

[jwl]

Roflmao 75 pounds a pull eh, musta been the size of perch.

 

most of them where the size of perch, alot where bigger than what some people keep for perch....ask anyone who netted them down there in the late 70's into the early 80's....it was nuts...litterally you could drop a big dip net in and before it even sank it was bowed down in the current loaded with fish....sounds nuts, but I am not even remotely exaggerating one bit. It would take a couple people to haul the net in after sometimes. It would be what looked to be a never ending cloud of them for about 2 weeks a year.

 

It was an annual mission for alot of folks, you would see the same faces every year and lots of how are ya's from people everyone had seen around the river. Best part was...no idjuts...everyone actually helped each other...helped haul nets...once one person got a load they moved out of the way so the next guy could have a dip, everyone rotated, took turns, helped load huge tubs of fish into each other's trucks..it was like a little fishing community within itself for those 2 weeks. We need more places and values like that in this day and age for sure

[Fishmaster]

Heads off, belly opened and guts scraped out. Roll in flour, quick panfry in butter, grab the tail, slide the fish tween the tongue and your teeth. Yummy!.

 

Good alternative is to roll em in a cajun mix. The hottest mix I've tried was a bucket of Uncle Buck's Cajun that I got at Christmas a year back.

 

 

Here is a picture of what they look like cooked the way you are talking about...

 

The kids loved them...

 

 

cheers

 

Jen

[canadadude]

Thats SWEEEEEEEEEEET EATING hahahhahah.......nothing better then winter smelties for the frying pan, gotta do a ramies bend trek soon hahahahha

[Billy Bob]

As a fund raiser the Niagara Rivers Anglers Association (NRAA) does a smelt fry on docks at Lewiston, NY every year. This right across from your Queenston launch site on the river. I believe it's held sometime in April. They will be dipping the smelt right out of the river and frying them up fresh right there. Everyone is invited to partake in the fun of a few beers and all fried smelt you can eat.

 

Bob

[Bob]

I used to fish the mouth of Duffin's Creek in the 60s. Don't remember any 75 lb pulls but 15 or 20 lbs in a net was not unusual and fish over 12 inches were fairly common. They're gatting small and scarce in this neck o' the woods lately.

[Zebco]

I used to fish the mouth of Duffin's Creek in the 60s. Don't remember any 75 lb pulls but 15 or 20 lbs in a net was not unusual and fish over 12 inches were fairly common. They're gatting small and scarce in this neck o' the woods lately.

 

 

I thought 150 lbs in 2 pulls sounded like alot too, but I didn't grow up in the 60's. All always hear how bad it was walking 20 miles uphill in snow 20 feet deep just to go to school. So maybe the smelt felt bad for em and jumped in the net.