Smelt Fishing ?

[awsomeears]

I just bought a rig, who here also does or did it ?

[Holeshot]

20 some years ago I had an two 8 x 8 rigs that had lights, gear reduction cranks and quick connect rigging for the pier and for under the Hoan bridge. So many 5 gallon pails of smelt and all the beer I cant remember but its pretty fun. Bringing up trout ,lamprey perch and even walleye sometimes. Cleaning all of them is what gets old fast.

[Ricky Bobby]

i hear ya dan, remeber goin when i was younger with my dad like 7 or 8 rigs goin and had a blast back then, but now not sure how the action is

[DRK]

Cleaning all of them is what gets old fast.
Bite the heads off and suck the guts out, spit, and follow with a beer chaser. My problem was getting fucked up so fast that I was swallowing the heads and spitting out the beer

[Firefighter Z]

My Dad still has his rigs, we went under the Hoan like 20+ years ago, good times... Then he moved to the U.P. in 94' tried smelting with no luck, so he all together quit.
Now from the reports I get that the smelt are starting to come back?

I don't know the truth to that though.

[lordairgtar]

Bite the heads off and suck the guts out, spit, and follow with a beer chaser. My problem was getting fucked up so fast that I was swallowing the heads and spitting out the beer
You just know that tradition was fueled by alcohol. Rrrrreeeeeeebaaaah!

[awsomeears]

From the research that I'm doing it is getting better but nothing like in the 80's and 90's

[BlackLightning]

Bite the heads off and suck the guts out, spit, and follow with a beer chaser. My problem was getting fucked up so fast that I was swallowing the heads and spitting out the beer
did this once and never again. no beer though since I was a little kid. It was always a lot of fun smelting down at jones island or mckinley pier. Last I heard a few years back was that it is basically dead compared to late 80's..

[wheelsofsteel]

20 some years ago I had an two 8 x 8 rigs that had lights, gear reduction cranks and quick connect rigging for the pier and for under the Hoan bridge. So many 5 gallon pails of smelt and all the beer I cant remember but its pretty fun. Bringing up trout ,lamprey perch and even walleye sometimes. Cleaning all of them is what gets old fast.

HA !!! I bet I was down there at the same time you were. We used to go down there and set up a pop-up camper in the corner by the building under the hoan. Was a great time. Frooze our baggettes off most of the time but definitely was super fun.

If you end up doing this Brad let me know, I'd be down to bring back some old memories with ya.

[WI_Dave]

Went when I was a kid with my grandpa. Always wanted to try it again but never commited to buying a set-up.

[Exitspeed]

What caused it to just go away?

[SSDude]

Zebra muscles eliminating the plankton the smelt feed on and a growing hungry salmon/trout population

[awsomeears]

Tonight I will be there...... BYOB and say HELLO !!!

I guess there will be a few guys down there, one dude has a LAser show that he is testing out for next weekend.