Smelting

[David LaPell]

I am thinking of getting into smelting to help out some of the costs at home. Not the melting down of metal but the catching of smelt. My grandfather was really good at it but I never tried it. Anyone ever go out when the smelt is running and catch the little devils. I can remember opening the freezer as a kid and it looked like silver all over the place. There was a lot smelt for dinner throughout the winter.

 

[Marshwheeling]

My pop took me up to the North Shore of Lake Superior a couple of times for the smelt run. He was not a sportsman so much as a foodie, so he wasn't in the water with waders and the net, he was in a shack on the beach with some pans and a gas burner. He tried some experiments with smelt roe and eggs, which failed, but we all got to eat plenty of deep fried smelt. Of course, the grownups drank plenty of beer, which I later learned was the main point of the whole exercise.

 

[Engineer1911]

Fish that are cleaned with a scissors and tooth brush don't have much meat. The taste of butter fried smelt was fantastic but eating twenty 4" fish with scales + plus the cleaning experience -- once was enough. And that was 40 years ago.

Way deep down I'm a Wisconsin Boy.

 

[ACP230]

Some folks up here catch smelt through the ice using hook and line.

I've never done that but used to smelt in the spring with an old dip net and a couple of buckets. My brother's old Army buddies always knew when they were running and I'd find out from him. Now my early warning system is defunct and I usually miss the smelt runs.

They were never my favorite fish but we used to get a couple of buckets in the spring and have a few dinners.

 

[Tyrod]

My dad always had a freezer full of fish. They smelt bad.

 

[jkc]

Went with my dad as a boy on some smelting outings. As I recall, this was done late at night, and involved hordes of these little fish swarming up shallow creeks and outlets into Lake Michigan from small inland lakes. Various sorts of nets were used, some of higher capacity/greater efficacy than others. If memory serves, these fish, like sardines, were eaten in entirety, not cleaned or dressed, usually breaded and deepfried, crunchy, crispspy, and delicious! I found some not long ago at WalMart, of all places, and refreshed my memory and my palate with these piscatorial delights.

 

[quneur]

Fried smelt is okay. I went smelting once a few years back. It was an interesting experience. We used a smelt net; a long handled net which we scooped smelt from the muddy banks of some river which was a tributary of the Columbia River.

 

[bobcat]

We used to dip them in the creeks when they came in from Lake Huron. Seems to me the nets were basically longish handles with a wire loop and a net that had the consistency of window screen. Occassionaly we'd dip a sucker or turtle, but if they were really running, you could fill a trash can pretty quick. This was in the late 60's & early 70's, I used to really enjoy a mess of fried smelt and fries.

 

[Jst1mr]

I have participated in many a smelt run. Some with a dip net and sometimes with a 2 man seine. Years ago it was basically unlimited - you could come home with 4-5 barrels full. Unlike sardines, we always cleaned them (just gutted them, basically) which could be a daunting project after the catching. They run at night, so a shoreline bonfire, leaky waders, and something to imbibe all night long are requirements. We used to be able to trade some of them to a local grocery store in return for ribeye steaks, and of course smelt feeds are common at many churches, etc. Amounts allowed to be taken are now considerably less (thankfully), but it still is an absolute blast. If you get tired of dipping them, just take a walk and visit the other folks at various bonfires along the beach. The fun may continue till dawn. Of course, as the night grows late, there may be the inevitable challenge to bite the head off a fresh smelt, or even eat it raw in its entirety. (Wouldn't hurt to pack a toothbrush for the ride home in the morning...)

 

[mtgianni]

They make good pike bait.

 

[Buckey08]

Wow, Along US2 in the Michigan UP, I had way too much Fun in the spring looking for smelt!

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Yah you becha eh?

We smelted heavily in the UP (upper peninsula of Michigan) when the smelt were running. A case of Falstaff or old Milwaukee, a smelt net and some waders is all we needed.

I agree up along US 2 or 41 north of Lanse it was great. Good times now almost 30 years back.

Yes the waders leaked. Yes we were pretty drunk. Yes we ate far too much raw smelt but heck it was a load of food and if you froze them up you could have a decent amount of protein when the money started running out toward the end of winter term.

 

[enfield]

I greatly enjoy EATING smelt, but I'm not going to get any here in Tennessee.

Don't even mention walleye . . .

 

[jkc]

I greatly enjoy EATING smelt, but I'm not going to get any here in Tennessee.

Don't even mention walleye . . .

Speaking of walleye --- after a conversation with a potential customer about a fast-growing restaurant chain called Culver's, I visited one of thier nearby restaurants today, intending to try one of thier lauded burgers and frozen custard. But, I was diverted in my plan by a counter display promoting a "walleye dinner" offered as a two or three pieces of fish combination, with fries and cole slaw. Assuming the fish portions to be probably paltry, I ordered the three piece. It arrived, somewhat inelegantly, on a compartmented plate with plastic utensils on a tray with tartar sauce, etc. The fries were only so-so, the cole slaw a bit too sweet for my taste, a dinner roll I ignored, but, the three generous sized, lightly breaded and deep fried walleye fillets were superb, and a bit more than I ought to have eaten for lunch.

Walleye is seldom seen on restaurant menus hereabouts, and is usually at a premium price. This was the surprising exception to the rule --- I'll be back for more!

 

[Marshwheeling]

Up in these parts, Culver's often has a walleye sandwich on the menu. That's about the only reason I check in from time to time. If they have it, I'll buy it. And speaking of walleye, my BIL came back from Lake of the Woods last weekend with more walleye than seven of us could eat in one sitting. Plus jalapeno hush puppies and a couple of smoked tullibees. I probably ate a month's worth of mercury in one sitting.

 

[jkc]

Up in these parts, Culver's often has a walleye sandwich on the menu. That's about the only reason I check in from time to time. If they have it, I'll buy it. And speaking of walleye, my BIL came back from Lake of the Woods last weekend with more walleye than seven of us could eat in one sitting. Plus jalapeno hush puppies and a couple of smoked tullibees. I probably ate a month's worth of mercury in one sitting.

What are "tullibees" smoked, or otherwise? Since we evidently have some sophisticated and shared tastes (we epicures need to look out for one another...) I'd like to know about these tullibees...

 

[Engineer1911]

Tullibees -- roll 'em up in lefse!!

 

[Marshwheeling]

What are "tullibees" smoked, or otherwise? Since we evidently have some sophisticated and shared tastes (we epicures need to look out for one another...) I'd like to know about these tullibees...

Thanks for asking. I only heard about them for the first time the other day. The BIL wasn't even sure about the spelling. Until then, I would have known them as chubs, ciscos, or whitefish. Coregonus artedi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whatever you call them, I have three more in the refrigerator.

There was at least one USS Tullibee in the U.S. Navy, a small nuclear sub.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tullibee_(SSN-597)

 

[Sven]

Glad you posted this! Smelt were "accidentally" introduced into a local lake and make an annual run up one particular creek. (Probably someone on the lake went smelting on Lake Superior and dumped the guts into the lake. Guess what -- there's both eggs and row in those guts. . .) Been a mild winter, so I bet the smelt run isn't too far off. One ice cream bucket full is enough for several meals, but it's hard to stop at just one bucket, if they're really running!

I know where my dip net is, now where is that headlamp I bought a while back???

 

[Sven]

Mmmm. . . nothing wrong with smoked tullabies or white fish! Except my wife won't allow them in her fridge. I really ought to get a small fridge for the garage for bait and the occational smoked fish.

 

[A10]

I have dipped many a smelt with my Dad on the Skagit River. Usta be a heckuva run up there. Some folks fished with lines and bait, I always thought that was too much work when a good net full would last a year...

 

[labworm]

Smelt runs were common in the Northeast about 50 years ago, don't know what happened. Once in awhile I'll see some guys with lanterns fishing the creek.

There is nothing like the smell of smelts in the morning.

 

[rburg]

Of course, the grownups drank plenty of beer, which I later learned was the main point of the whole exercise.

Catch on quick, I see!

 

[enfield]

OK

Now someone mentioned smoked fish.

Where do you buy kippers in Tennessee?

Smelt, walleye, kippers, whole salmon for $2/lb.

I'm dyyyyinnnn!

 

[Marshwheeling]

Can't help you with Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake, maybe? Whenever I think about smelt, I start thinking about smoked fish, too, probably because I associate both with the North Shore. Whenever I'm up there, I stop at one of the smoked fish shacks on the old lakefront highway (used to be US61) between Duluth and Two Harbors. Has to be there, because the last time I went through Two Harbors, all the fish places looked to be out of business.

Dunno about kippers, either. I have only ever seen them in a can, next to the sardines and smoked oysters.

 

[jkc]

Thanks for asking. I only heard about them for the first time the other day. The BIL wasn't even sure about the spelling. Until then, I would have known them as chubs, ciscos, or whitefish. Coregonus artedi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Whatever you call them, I have three more in the refrigerator.

There was at least one USS Tullibee in the U.S. Navy, a small nuclear sub.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Tullibee_(SSN-597)

Oh, smoked chubs, as I knew them, growing up on the Lake Michigan shore at Manistee. Then, there were still several commercial fishermen operating out of that splendid harbor, and very early one summer morning, my father and I went with a couple of them, two fairly old brothers, Hansen or Hanson I think was their surname, who had a peculiar vessel of maybe 35' OAL, with trawler-style wooden hull, and a superstructure entirely enclosing the hull, powered by a tractor type marine diesel engine which made a steady, throbbing, thumping at the boat's slow cruise speed.

This was my first daylight trip out of sight of land, and it was disconcerting, especially given the rather decrepit state of the vessel and its operators. I don't recall that the boat had any thing beyond the Coast Guard required minimum of safety or navigational gear, but these crusty old timers steered an inerrrant course until we reached the flagged floating wands indicating the ends of their submerged gill nets. They then began to reel in the nets using a PTO powered device which permitted them to pluck the chubs (there was no indiscriminate bycatch, as I recall) from the incoming mesh. While one brother plucked fish from the net, another began dressing them, in a remarkably dexterous manner...

Once all the nets were pulled, and then re-set, there was a great accumulation of still-wriggling chubs. On the return trip, with the boat on some sort of auto-pilot (no lookout or watch posted...) both brothers commenced cleaning the chubs, which they did in two quick strokes, using a peculiar knife, the likes of which I've not seen in a long time --- with a blade about six inches long, shaped similarly to a butter-knife, with a broadly recurved "point" resembling a flattened spoon. With one stroke, they'd slit the fish's abdomen from stem to stern, then, in another quick stroke, use the rounded, spoon-like, sharpened round end of the blade to completely and cleanly eviscerate each "chub".

They seemed to have thought their catch a disappointment, but I was fascinated and thrilled. Until recently, these delicious smoked chubs were ocassionaly on offer at a local supermarket, but not, recently, regrettably.