Smelt 2012

[lispeej]

Thanks for sharing BD110.

Now, I assume most if not all rope you used were nylon as well?

The pvc tube inside of pvc tube.....is that for extra strength?

And when you said you got the line from the "company", did you mean just any hardware store, or christiansen?

And lastly for now, when you pull in water....do you pull the blue rope or the pvc pipe? Or do you hold the pvc pipe with one hand and the blue rope with the other?

[live4chrome]

Some ziptie chain to the bottom of the nets... it helps

[BD110]

Thanks for sharing BD110.

Now, I assume most if not all rope you used were nylon as well?

The pvc tube inside of pvc tube.....is that for extra strength?

And when you said you got the line from the "company", did you mean just any hardware store, or christiansen?

And lastly for now, when you pull in water....do you pull the blue rope or the pvc pipe? Or do you hold the pvc pipe with one hand and the blue rope with the other?

The blue rope is nylon and I think I got it at Menard's.

If you don't use the inner piece of PVC there is to much flex when you're pulling the seine.

I got the extra line from Christiansen nets. They even gave me a flat plastic needle to thread the line through the seine.

Picture walking backwards to shore. You would get all set with the seine flip the top of the polls towards shore. Put the blue rope over your head and down around your waist. Stand the seine up in the water and start walking backwards towards shore. The bottom of the blue rope should be in front of your legs so you're not tripping on it while walking backwards. You're pulling the seine with the blue rope around your waist and your hands are holding the top part of the poll that is sticking out of the water, keeping the poll straight and in contact with the bottom of the lake.

I'm very sure you know how to seine but the only way I can explain my setup to you is to keep it simple. I'll post another photo later today with myself holding the seine ready to pull.

[fish ooon]

BD110, did you pull last night? If so, any luck? If you need someone to pull with, let me know, ill go with you. I tried a few nights ago, but The waves were to high..... Good luck...

[loadmaster]

I still like the Closet Rods in the 6ft length. I think the metal poles conduct the cold. and the PVC unless beefed up are to bendy. I do not think how the ends are tied to the poles have a big impact on the number of smelt you can pull. The biggest mistake that people make is the they try to lift the net before they are on the beach. You have to drag the net all the way on the beach and not try to lift before you get on shore. Was going to hit it tonight until I saw the clouds off to the west. Might go down to the tot and at least temp the water. I hope they are not running yet as the wife will make go down every night to see how they are doing. Steve you know what I am talking about.>>>>;later the load

[BD110]

BD110, did you pull last night? If so, any luck? If you need someone to pull with, let me know, ill go with you. I tried a few nights ago, but The waves were to high..... Good luck...

No I'm sorry to say I did not give it a try last night. The seas were looking to bad along with the wind and cold when I went down to check on some shore fishing during the day.

Loadmaster makes some good points. One thing for sure you know things are starting to get serious when Load pipes in about smelting!!

[Northlander]

Still going to be a tad early Im assuming. Load I know what ya mean man, I know what ya mean.

[loadmaster]

Took a look temp probe broke but the water was cold. The tot lot was full of the chips and one crew tried to pull but could not get the net in due to the chips and waves. No smelt reported by Ashland/Bayfield area yet>>>later the load

[Northlander]

Ya we are usually about a week or so behind Ashland.

[lispeej]

Courtesy of MNDNR website:

"Smelt generally enter streams in mid to late April when the water in the tributaries warms into the upper 40 degree F range."

I think here, water temp is everything. With the warm up we've had, I do agree that they'll be running sooner than normal.....

[bmc]

Just watch out for the stray pesky 5-7 lb lakers that show up in the net once in a while right Tom!

My smelting lake, Pokegama, by Grand Rapids had a MAJOR smelt die off last summer. I've heard past fall DNR smelt netting #'s were 70-100 smelt per net. This past fall I heard they got 1, yes 1 smelt per net.

Will be interesting to see how the smelting goes, might have to head east!

Brian

[BD110]

Hey Brian,

If you do come this way on a night off at least you know you have a place to stay afterwords. Much better then taking that long ride in the middle of the night. Hopefully things will hold out for a little while and the evening low temps will rise again. Nothing better then freezing your back side off in the process.

[bowlingballhead]

Ok, so I know this is a question that can't really be answered, but... if you had to guess, when will it start? Unfortunately I'm looking at having to make a move out West towards the beginning of April, and am gonna cry if I miss muh smelt! Someone please humor me with a prediction that they'll run next week!

[Bowfin]

Ok, so I know this is a question that can't really be answered, but... if you had to guess, when will it start? Unfortunately I'm looking at having to make a move out West towards the beginning of April, and am gonna cry if I miss muh smelt! Someone please humor me with a prediction that they'll run next week!

OK, I think they will run next week. You should try it out there and let us know how you do.

[Jim Almquist]

The water was something like 36.8 degrees at its warmest yesterday. Trolling along Park Point we did not see the balls of smelt on the graph at the 15-25 foot depths. When they are close to spawning they will be staged or at least have in the past.

Who knows with this years weather

[analyzer]

Ya know, I was down by the king plant in bayport, where the channel meets the river, and there were thousands of 3-4 inch shad. Can you net them and eat them just like smelt? has anyone done it?

[dougger222]

I predict two more weeks until they turn up on the MN side. When the reports start in Ashland you have to figure a good 5-7 days before Duluth.

My guess is in the next 3-10 days we'll be getting them near Ashland. Got scouts going out next few nights...

My buddy says his new 75x6ft sein with purse is ready for pick up. Last year we drug his 50fx6ft with purse and he complained it wasn't big enough!!! No we don't smelt with them in MN...

[lispeej]

dougerr,

i remember you were hitting them really hard last year...

[Northlander]

I predict two more weeks until they turn up on the MN side. When the reports start in Ashland you have to figure a good 5-7 days before Duluth.

My guess is in the next 3-10 days we'll be getting them near Ashland. Got scouts going out next few nights...

My buddy says his new 75x6ft sein with purse is ready for pick up. Last year we drug his 50fx6ft with purse and he complained it wasn't big enough!!! No we don't smelt with them in MN...

He must have a comercial license?

[BD110]

I sure hope it holds out for a while because it would suck trying to get the job done with weather like this.

[dougger222]

dougerr,

i remember you were hitting them really hard last year...

Ya we hit them really really hard. I went twice and we filled up a long bed both times and my buddy did it on a third trip. We took some video of the seining, they were posted on the smelt forum last year.

[dougger222]

He must have a comercial license?

[Northlander]

Wow. I looked up the regs and it says you can also use the 75' X 6' seign in the St. Louis Bay and some other areas of the river up to the 28th st. landing if your a Wi. Resident.

It also says non Wi. residents can not sell the smelt they get in Wi. waters.

Thanks a lot for getting me to do more research. I learned something new today.

[bmc]

Thanks for the offer Tom!!! I appreciate it! Who knows.......maybe I'll even break my Looper curse down there this spring?

Keep in touch and let me know how the fishing is going.

We're replacing the old stuff in our bathroom w/ new stuff this weekend.......so that should be good for a free pass or two in April!

Brian

[lispeej]

any new news yet?

[MidCoast]

I heard people were getting some Smelt up in the Duluth area. I am not sure how accurate these reports I heard were though.

[BD110]

any new news yet?

Sorry to say I have nothing to report. For reasons out of my control all of my smelting gear has not moved one inch from where I placed it over a week ago. As far as I know the temps are still to low and the winds have been to high as well. Someone may have been out giving it a try but it hasn't been any one that I've talked to. I hope to make it out by next weekend.

[fish ooon]

We went out last night to check it out. We started at park point and the waves were to big to pull. So, we headed to the lester river. There were folks there, but they werent getting anything. One gentlemen I spoke with said he has been at the river for the last three nights with nothing to show. We're going to head down to both places again this evening to check it out....

[bowlingballhead]

Thanks a lot dude! Looking forward to tonight's report, as it really helps those of us who drive down the shore an hour to the Lester know what we're getting into. Thanks again!

[Northlander]

I wouldnt even waste my time at the Lester. I would suggest getting a seign and pulling Park Point. The guys in boats tel me they have sen some smelt pods out in 45-55' of water. Im thinking we are still a week or 2 away yet.