By Phil Rowe
In the Spring, when the lake ice began to break up and clear away from the shoreline, we'd go smelting. No, I didn't say smelling, though that's what others might say after we'd been smelting. I meant going after a little fish called a smelt. And we usually did it in the wee hours of the morning.
I remember well the times we'd go smelting along the southern shores of New Hampshire's magnificent Lake Winnipesaukee. That was back in the late 40's. Old timers will tell that was back when winters were harsher, the snow was deeper and the lake was not yet polluted. Back then there were many places with undeveloped shoreline and clean clear streams emptying into the lake from snow melt.
The fine art of smelting was not especially sophisticated. All you needed was warm clothes, rubber boots, flashlights, a big long-handled net and a bucket. Some people went smelting for their own food, while others did it on a commercial basis, selling their daily catch to local fish markets and restaurants.
They were little fish, known in some books as the American Smelt. Most were barely six inches in length and silvery of color, shining brightly in the glare of flashlights. A good smelt 'run' meant that the little critters filled the small streams feeding the lake. They were heading up to shallow spawning pools by the tens of thousands.
Catching smelt, especially when the schools were sizable was as simple as dipping your net into the stream and scooping them out. You could often get your limit, of one bucket-full, in just a few minutes, if there was a good 'run' and there weren't any predators.
Predators?? Yes, often larger fish out there along the shoreline drove the smelt away. Some nights you'd go out and not see any smelt near the mouth of a stream that was full of them a day or so earlier. A few lake trout or salmon frequently patrolled the smelt runs, gorging themselves on the tasty morsels. Nights like that were a waste of time for the cold, wet and disgusted fishermen. I know, because, as they say today, I've been there and done that.
Yet on nights when the smelt "ran" well, you could quickly get your limit, and so could all your friends. Things got pretty hectic and busy for a few hours on good nights.
So? What did you do with those small fish after you got your bucket full? You eat 'em. And they're really good when deep-fried. You don't have to clean them or filet them. You eat them whole, sorta like anchovies, only they are better and not as salty.
Today smelting is probably not possible in many large eastern lakes because of things like shoreline development, pollution and loss of habitat. Too bad, because those tasty little fish used to feed a lot of people, as well as lake trout. It's a shame.