Personally, I am not a fan of smelts. In fact the only thing I like about them is the schooling lake trout that feast on them every spring. If you want to catch lake trout - find the smelt and match your lure. I talked to four different smelt anglers yesterday and generally they felt ‘the run’ had peaked and was trailing off. What are smelt?

Rainbow Smelt

Smelt are small, shiny, torpedo like fish that spawn each spring. They can be caught, in the dark of night, using dip nets to scoop them up out of their massive schools. The smelt usually run in streams, creeks, and small rivers. Cleaning them is the hardest part of the work. At least, only until you have cleaned your first hundred or so. For some great preparation and cleaning tips visit this link.

For some great smelt recipes visit this link.

Be careful on our Muskoka roads at night. Beware the night angler. For those of you who have already been out, how did you find this year’s run? Feel free to also leave your favorite smelt recipe. Use the comment system below.