Cooking smelt

[panfisherboy]

hey everyone. i was just wondering if anyone knows how to cook smelt. a local grocery store sells them not sure if you eat them whole or fillete them?thanks for any responses. pfb

[huntervasili]

used to just fry em up whole with some batter and add some lemon after their cooked... eat em bones and all if theyre the little ones... But i guess you could eat the meat off the bones too...

[Roy]

Just fry them and eat them as they are.

 

Never smelt a smelt that smelt like the smelt I smelt.

[huntervasili]

you smelt a smelt?

[taper]

The ones in your local grocer may be different than the smelt the guys are catching locally.

[Roy]

Taper, I believe they're the same.

[pikehunter]

They taste like smelt

 

Actually they taste great! But a couple of meals of them and that pretty much satisfies the need it til next year

[jil101ca]

Could you just imagine trying to fillet one?

[Sinker]

I don't know of a fish that has sweeter meat than a smelt.

 

Just fry them up whole, some people gut them, but it depends on the size of them.

 

I get mine from NB, saltwater, YUMMY!!

 

Sinker

[Fishmaster]

Take the head off gut them roll in flour fry in a pan of peanut oil ..YUMMY ..

[bigfish1965]

mmmm...smelt

[lew]

It's been about 35 years since we fished for smelts, but we did them just like the others suggested, gut them and remove the head, then fry in butter.......deeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious !!

[Headhunter]

We used to catch them by the garbage bag full off of the Port Stanley pier. We'd use scissors to cut off the head, a quick slice up the gut, thumb through the cavity to pull the guts out. A little flour, some hot Lard a sprinkle of Kosher salt and your good to go!

HH

[douG]

Definitely another one of those things that tastes like fish.

[misfish]

Ya think douG.

 

The best part is the crispy tails. Smelts are second to Kaplin. Yum.

[mattyk]

tastes like chicken. Ha ha, not really sorry. There not bad. Fry em up in some butter and a little bit a lemon or lime juice and your in business.

[walleyejigger]

most times grocery stores sell sea smelts, totally different than what we catch from our great lakes, sea smelts are usually bigger, (so u may want to remove the bones after cooking) and sea smelts have a much sweeter / richer taste, i find they taste a little like crab legs, sea smelts and "regular" smelts are barely comparible