I read that the smelt runs have fallen as the trout and salmon fisheries improved in the Great Lakes. After they bounced back after the sea lampreys they started decreasing the population of their favorite foods alewives and smelt. I remember going to Pt. Pelee 15 years ago and taking them by the trunk loads home.

 

Yes, I remember going to Pt Pelee when I was a kid and filling garbage cans full of them. You want to talk about good eating.....

Anyway I hear that Pt Pelee doesn't even run the trams out to the point during spring smelt season anymore because there are so few of them.

 

No flame but maybe alll of those "truck loads" didn't help.

 

Is there a limit on how many smelt an angler can have in possession at a time? It seems that today the dnr would want this regulated as well, to protect the species from the "truck load" fisherman. Just curious.

ben

 

My thoughts exactly Jimbos.

 

It wasn't a truck load but a car trunk full. Split between 8 guys who gave some away. Nothing wasted. This went on for years in Canada. Doesn't make it right because it probably was excessive and there were guys probably leaving with "truck loads" but that was the mentality back then. Still, the current discussions I have read put most of the blame on our wonderful trout/salmon fishery. This is a more natural environment with the large predators in the Great Lakes again. Anyway, I'd rather catch steelies and salmon over netting smelt.
I don't know what the limit is in Canada. Still in Michigan smelt falls under no size limit and no limit for catch.

 

I believe that the #'s are down but the water has changed also. We don't get the rain we used to get in the spring. In the St. Clair River the water needs to be cloudy for the smelt to get in dipping range. The Canadiens had a real good run because of all the west wind we had.
There wasn't a night this year that they really cleaned up on smelt.
Chad@GLO

 

To those who said the garbage cans of smelt was excessive that was the take for an entire boy scout troop at the time and was split accordingly.

Oh yeah, and the native Canadian indians were allowed to go out with boats with huge nets and row the boats back in with about 2 or 3 garbage can full of smell per netting.