Most of you have never heard of a Smelt I bet. They were most times 3 or 4 inches long. We used to use gill nets with small mesh to catch them each spring up north. On a good night (they only run at night to spawn) in a good place you could catch 5 gallon buckets full of those tasty things in just a few hours. Clean them by cutting off their heads and use your thumbnail to gut them. Roll in white cornmeal and deep fry. Scales were so fine it didn't matter just eat them like French fries. In the popular spots seem someone always had a propane fired deep fryer set up with peanut oil and anyone could cook them on the spot. The coolest thing about them was the smell of fresh caught ones. Lets play a game and yall guess the smell and I will give it away in a couple days. Some northern transplant will know for sure. But it may surprise you. Some guys at one spot they could wade out would use 20 to 50 foot minnow seines to catch them. The water was cold that time of year even with waders on so I preferred the gill net system.
Every spring for over 20 years up in Duluth MN. at the mouth of the Lester River. We would fill 55 gallon barrels. Sit up till six in the A.M. Cleaning them. Fry em up, eat and wash em down with a cold brew. Sure miss those times. Freeze up a bunch for Walleye bait also.
We didn't have a run up any Indiana streams or rivers just in Lake Michigan. Do you remember the smell of them fresh caught ? Hint most rednecks know the smell....LOL.
Smell like a cucumber. Been in on netting them once maybe 15 years ago. They're good, but hell to clean all them little bastards.
Worst part of cleaning them is getting covered in all their damn eggs. A real mess washing them off. Covered everything around you. They had a real weird fish smell. I remember every darn cat in area ending up at our house.
Not a correct answer yet on the smell.....think summer time. And it is a weird smell for a fish. I never gave it much thought until a old timer told me and he was dead on.
Been forty years since I last caught any. All I remember is they smelled like a smelt. Kind of stunk. Never caught them in the summer. Around the end of April. Snow still on the river bank, water temp upper 30's, ice chunks floating down stream, air temp upper 30's to low 40's.
My Hometown in WI has a Schmelt Festival every year. I haven't dipped in years but I buy them in the store if I see them. There was a tavern in town that gave them away Thursday nights with 1.00 pitchers!
