Hamilton Reef
02-19-2006, 09:22 PM
Morning gatherings center around smelt fishing
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1139953204110020.xml&coll=1
Sunday, February 19, 2006 By Bob Gwizdz
TRAVERSE CITY -- Across the state, small informal social clubs grow up around the fisheries resources. There are restaurants, for instance, where the local anglers gather for breakfast before they begin their day's adventures, only to gather again the following morning (or week) to relate how it went, what worked where, and so on.
But for all the world-class fisheries in Michigan -- steelhead, walleyes, smallmouth bass, muskellunge -- one of the strongest social institutions in this part of the state is dedicated to one of the smallest, most obscure of the state's fishery resources.
Up here, it's all about smelt.
Best-known as a Great Lakes baitfish that migrates upstream or near-shore in the spring to spawn, smelt have been transplanted -- or have otherwise found their way -- into a number of lakes in northern Michigan where the water is deep and cold enough for them to prosper. And, as it is with most species well down the food chain, smelt are prodigious. Find some and you've generally found a bunch.
So I recently found myself in the midst of a social club, holding its weekly meeting on Cedar Lake, a Leelanau County lake just outside the city limits here. A small, natural body of water that drains into Lake Michigan, Cedar Lake is one of a couple in this area that is noted for smelt.
There were a handful of fellows in attendance as we gathered out over 45 feet of water on 5 inches of ice -- less than half of what you'd normally expect this time of year -- as darkness descended. It didn't take long before holes were drilled, lights were powered, portable shanties were erected and smelt were on the air side of the ice.
I was the guest of David Rose, a fishing guide/outdoor writer who is a sometimes participant in these smeltin' safaris. He filled me in on the drill.
"You want to get out over 35 to 50 feet of water -- deeper water," Rose said. "The fish are up in the top half, usually. In the daytime, they hang out on the bottom. At night, they come up to feed -- and hopefully not get fed upon."
Smelt anglers often position themselves at the base of a drop-off, though the fish are pretty much open-water roamers and the relationship to structure may simply be happenstance.
"I don't think there's a structure element involved," Rose said. "Maybe right off the drop-off is better than out in the abyss, but I think people fish the drop-off because that's closest to shore."
Besides, smelt anglers typically submerge lights to help attract fish to them. It's the age-old equation -- the lights attract the weebeasties, which attract the fish that feed upon them.
Lights make a difference; Rose had neglected to charge his battery before our trip and our light went out early. We caught considerably fewer fish than the other club members.
"If nobody has lights, that's fine," Rose said. "But if one guy's got a light, he's going to get more because the majority of the fish are going to go to that light and eat the zooplankton.
As for tackle, it's pretty basic. We used light rods and light (2-pound test) line.
"I think you could get away with 4-(pound test), but anything heavier than that, you get coils in your line and you can't detect the bite," Rose said.
That's the key. Smelt weigh mere ounces. Often, when you're holding the rod, you have enough residual hand shake that you can detect a bite when the rod tip stops wiggling.
On the business end, we used Hali spoons, small baits with a tiny hook suspended on a chain. Some anglers use tear drops, which are fine, but if the fish are deep in the water column, you can grow a beard waiting for the teardrop to fall into the strike zone. Others use multiple teardrops, which adds weight to increase the fall, but Rose doesn't think that's necessarily a good idea.
"Multiple hooks don't always mean multiple fish," he said. "Sometimes that leads to tangles and frustrations."
On a good night in a good year, a couple of anglers in a shanty can catch a couple hundred smelt. But even when it's slow, anglers can usually count on enough fish for a good fry.
"All lakes cycle, but you really see cycles of smelt," Rose said. "Last year on Green Lake, you could go out there and get 200 smelt a night, but they were tiny. This year, there are fewer, but they're bigger.
"Last year, it was all you could do to get a smelt out of Crystal Lake. A couple of years ago, it was gangbusters. That's part of the cycle."
We used spikes for bait as they are tougher-skinned and stay on the hook better than wax worms, the other popular bait. Some anglers use tiny minnows, but they're hard to come by and don't necessarily give you an advantage.
Anglers who are interested in smelt fishing but have no idea where to start should simply go to a lake known for smelt (Higgins is probably as well known as any) and see where the action is. Shanty towns usually develop around good smelt-fishing areas. Just go out and join the fray.
And who knows? You may wind up with more than dinner. You may wind up in a social club.
"You're there to get a mess of smelt for dinner, but it's very social," Rose said. "You can crack a couple beers, call each other names, that kind of thing.
"It's like bowling -- a going-out-to-the-bar-once-a-week thing."
http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/statewide/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1139953204110020.xml&coll=1
Sunday, February 19, 2006 By Bob Gwizdz
TRAVERSE CITY -- Across the state, small informal social clubs grow up around the fisheries resources. There are restaurants, for instance, where the local anglers gather for breakfast before they begin their day's adventures, only to gather again the following morning (or week) to relate how it went, what worked where, and so on.
But for all the world-class fisheries in Michigan -- steelhead, walleyes, smallmouth bass, muskellunge -- one of the strongest social institutions in this part of the state is dedicated to one of the smallest, most obscure of the state's fishery resources.
Up here, it's all about smelt.
Best-known as a Great Lakes baitfish that migrates upstream or near-shore in the spring to spawn, smelt have been transplanted -- or have otherwise found their way -- into a number of lakes in northern Michigan where the water is deep and cold enough for them to prosper. And, as it is with most species well down the food chain, smelt are prodigious. Find some and you've generally found a bunch.
So I recently found myself in the midst of a social club, holding its weekly meeting on Cedar Lake, a Leelanau County lake just outside the city limits here. A small, natural body of water that drains into Lake Michigan, Cedar Lake is one of a couple in this area that is noted for smelt.
There were a handful of fellows in attendance as we gathered out over 45 feet of water on 5 inches of ice -- less than half of what you'd normally expect this time of year -- as darkness descended. It didn't take long before holes were drilled, lights were powered, portable shanties were erected and smelt were on the air side of the ice.
I was the guest of David Rose, a fishing guide/outdoor writer who is a sometimes participant in these smeltin' safaris. He filled me in on the drill.
"You want to get out over 35 to 50 feet of water -- deeper water," Rose said. "The fish are up in the top half, usually. In the daytime, they hang out on the bottom. At night, they come up to feed -- and hopefully not get fed upon."
Smelt anglers often position themselves at the base of a drop-off, though the fish are pretty much open-water roamers and the relationship to structure may simply be happenstance.
"I don't think there's a structure element involved," Rose said. "Maybe right off the drop-off is better than out in the abyss, but I think people fish the drop-off because that's closest to shore."
Besides, smelt anglers typically submerge lights to help attract fish to them. It's the age-old equation -- the lights attract the weebeasties, which attract the fish that feed upon them.
Lights make a difference; Rose had neglected to charge his battery before our trip and our light went out early. We caught considerably fewer fish than the other club members.
"If nobody has lights, that's fine," Rose said. "But if one guy's got a light, he's going to get more because the majority of the fish are going to go to that light and eat the zooplankton.
As for tackle, it's pretty basic. We used light rods and light (2-pound test) line.
"I think you could get away with 4-(pound test), but anything heavier than that, you get coils in your line and you can't detect the bite," Rose said.
That's the key. Smelt weigh mere ounces. Often, when you're holding the rod, you have enough residual hand shake that you can detect a bite when the rod tip stops wiggling.
On the business end, we used Hali spoons, small baits with a tiny hook suspended on a chain. Some anglers use tear drops, which are fine, but if the fish are deep in the water column, you can grow a beard waiting for the teardrop to fall into the strike zone. Others use multiple teardrops, which adds weight to increase the fall, but Rose doesn't think that's necessarily a good idea.
"Multiple hooks don't always mean multiple fish," he said. "Sometimes that leads to tangles and frustrations."
On a good night in a good year, a couple of anglers in a shanty can catch a couple hundred smelt. But even when it's slow, anglers can usually count on enough fish for a good fry.
"All lakes cycle, but you really see cycles of smelt," Rose said. "Last year on Green Lake, you could go out there and get 200 smelt a night, but they were tiny. This year, there are fewer, but they're bigger.
"Last year, it was all you could do to get a smelt out of Crystal Lake. A couple of years ago, it was gangbusters. That's part of the cycle."
We used spikes for bait as they are tougher-skinned and stay on the hook better than wax worms, the other popular bait. Some anglers use tiny minnows, but they're hard to come by and don't necessarily give you an advantage.
Anglers who are interested in smelt fishing but have no idea where to start should simply go to a lake known for smelt (Higgins is probably as well known as any) and see where the action is. Shanty towns usually develop around good smelt-fishing areas. Just go out and join the fray.
And who knows? You may wind up with more than dinner. You may wind up in a social club.
"You're there to get a mess of smelt for dinner, but it's very social," Rose said. "You can crack a couple beers, call each other names, that kind of thing.
"It's like bowling -- a going-out-to-the-bar-once-a-week thing."