Smelt

[Steve Foss]

freefood, welcome to HSO. Great to have you here.

I don't have any direct experience with smelting up the Shore. Others here might. But as well as spawning on beaches like Park Point, smelt run up the rivers, and it could be worth your while to check out the rivers up by you. I'm going off memory, and others will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the smelt start to run up the rivers when temps reach about 39 degrees.

[loadmaster]

Ya Steve the old wife felt the warm weather and she says its time. Had to drag the nets out today and check them got the rubber boots out of the basement hope there are no holes.

She talked me into giving it a quick try on Wed night IF there is no wind. Will temp the water and post on the results. I think it might be a little early yet with ice still in parts of the River.

Last year one of the best nights we had was the first week of May and in 2008 the peak night was May 1.>>>>>later the load

[lispeej]

freefood, welcome to HSO. Great to have you here.

I don't have any direct experience with smelting up the Shore. Others here might. But as well as spawning on beaches like Park Point, smelt run up the rivers, and it could be worth your while to check out the rivers up by you. I'm going off memory, and others will correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure the smelt run up the rivers when temps reach about 39 degrees.

I thought I read one time on the MN DNR website that they run when the water temp reaches about 45 degrees.

[fish_4_fun]

ajs2186, well you can buy smelt from people, and i'm pretty sure if you ask around some people might jsut give you some. one time i was out by the lest, this young man just gave me a handful. but definetly i know people are willing to sell them. just dont know the legality of it.

anyway, i know there is a water temp theory, but i remember one year it was cold and snowing. i talked with a local guy, and he told me they cant hold on to those eggs forever. so even if it was cold and snowing we decided to wait, and sure enough that night it paid off. when they decided to come in, they came in hard, and we load our small pickup. my point is, sometimes they run even if its cold according to my experience. just my thoughts on this.

[Northlander]

Water temp is different than air temps with snow.The air temp has nothing to do with what the smelt are feeling in the water. In my experiences the water has to be around that mid 40's mark for the smelt to come on the beaches hard.

I have had a lot of people asking me about smelting but out of hundreds and hundreds of people at the Swap Meet Saturday nobody purchased a brand new smelting dip net I had for $15.

See everyone on the sand.

[Dylan33]

I haven't been smelting for about ten years. Man, I miss it...those were some fun nights! Using dip nets in the Lester River in Duluth was incredible.....I don't remember water, or air temps....other than cold! so, my advice is to go out and if you don't get any, it'll still be a blast!

[Note from admin: Edited. Please see forum rules before posting again. Thank you.]

[BEAST]

Trolled Park point all weekend - Water temps ranged from 35 -37 - Went over clouds of smelt in 60 ft.

[fish_4_fun]

so these smelt just sit out there in the 60 foot range until it gets warm enough than run up to spawn right?

is there any explanation for the poor smelt run last year, they seemed to spread out. could it be they moved to a different location.

[JBMasterAngler]

Freefood, aside from the lester river, the only other rivers I've ever heard of smelt running up (and in much less numbers) were sucker, knife, and stewart rivers. I don't think smelt are very common on the northshore past two harbors.

[loadmaster]

I think last year I temped the waters next to shore after a good sunny day and no wind it was about 38-39 degrees, and we had smelt.

Just a note that there is no smelting on a few of the North Shore rivers.

Have a friend who works at the hatchery and he told me that if they cannot spawn, they have the ability to absorb the eggs.

They do run up all the rivers along the Shore just at different times than the Duluth area>>>>>later the load

[Transporter]

In the heydays of the 70's the Pigeon river and Grand Portage creek produced tens of thousands of lbs. Caught many on hook and line through the ice this year, Nipigon bay has giant schools come through right under the ice. All the trout and salmon I caught through the ice this season were packed with smelt. Thunder Bay residents look forward to smelting the rivers there.

[Steve Foss]

Good smelt info throughout L.S. I'd have been surprised if smelt flourish around Duluth, the south shore and just a short distance up the North Shore but don't go further.

[Northlander]

We used to get smelt off the public beach in 2 harbors as well as silver creek but those days may be over I dont know.

[FishingwithFamil]

Has any one been out smelting yet?

[JBMasterAngler]

I just assumed they weren't common up there as all the trout/salmon we've caught over the years have been in grand marais and we have yet to find 1 smelt in any stomachs. Mostly sculpins and bugs...could be the time of year maybe (early to mid june).

Just out of curiousity, why are some streams closed to smelting?

[shogun]

Just out of curiousity, why are some streams closed to smelting?

To protect spawning fish. So people don't go in there and net a steelhead and keep it.

[fish_4_fun]

haha, speaking of netting steelheads. one time i accidently netted something big, that thing took off with my net, and i was holding onto the end. since i was crounching down when this happened, i went flying into the river. and when you have waders on and they fill up with water, its almost impossible to get back up. just a funny story i wanted to share.

but yea, i agree that some rivers should be closed for spawning. and we should respect that.

[lispeej]

I wonder if these warm temp days will affect or speed up the smelt run?

My guess is they'll probably run sometime after easter.

What is everyone else's educated guess?

[Northlander]

Has any one been out smelting yet?

Still too cold of water. We have about another 5 degrees or so to go. Todays highs should help a little.

[LoonASea]

Trolled Park Point today ,,,water temp was 36 and hit 13' to 64' and didnt see any pods of smelt on the sonar at all ,,,no bait fish = no coho

It was good to get the boat out on its maiden voyage for the year tho

LAS

[Northlander]

Man Loonasea your the 3rd boat that told me they saw no bait fish. Thats not good. If they went back deep again for a bit with the bright skies or what I dont know. Hopefully we get that 42-45 plus degree water and can get them at night as usual.

Maybe another couple weeks? Whats everyone elses thoughts? We didnt get as much sun as I thought we would today and a cool breeze most of it.

[2thepointsetters]

East wind Thursday should push them back in the area. I saw them all over Saturday they were in 60 feet of water about 30 feet down but not in the park point area. There were arches all over by the pods on the graph.

[lakerunner]

Out by the French the water temp was 35.5ish in the morning but by the evening the surface temp had gone up to the high 36's. I only marked one small group of smelt/baitfish. About 15 down over 35 FOW right be Schmidt Creek.

[shogun]

There have been people going out - not sure if they've been getting any - probably wouldn't say if they where. The river temps on the lower shore are certainly there. Lots of people showing up at the Lester tonight as the sun was setting when I drove by...

[lispeej]

any new reports?

[tyeeme]

heard some guys on wisconsin point got 30 gal on monday night. I didnt believe it but my reliable buddy says it was so. Gonna pull soon and will post. Anybody can talk. (well just about anybody)

[Northlander]

Thats the 1st I have heard of any smelt caught. Water was still about 36 degrees out there today. River was 37-39 most spots but almost 40 down river. Ill ckeck it tonight if the rain stops.

[lispeej]

heard some guys on wisconsin point got 30 gal on monday night. I didnt believe it but my reliable buddy says it was so. Gonna pull soon and will post. Anybody can talk. (well just about anybody)

That's a lot. Let us know what you find out.

Thanks.

[fish_4_fun]

I called the bait shop in duluth, the guy there said that nothing is found yet. there are many guys out there trying, but nothing is found.

[loadmaster]

Hit the tot lot and the bridge tonight. Temp 37-38 deg. Made five pulls and got three smelt around the 6" mark no eggs or milt. Ton of stickleback's and a few 2" shiners. Two other teams made a couple of pulls each with no luck. Started pulling around 9:00pm and ended at 11:00pm