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How to Trap Bay Smelt

Smelt are a freshwater fish with a mild flavor. They're about nine inches in length, several ounces in weight, and silver, purple or blue in color. A migratory fish, smelt are most easily caught during their migration season, when they gather in greater number. Unlike conventional fishing using line, hooks and a pole, smelt are more often trapped with nets. In North America, smelt trapping is best on the shores of the Great Lakes, where they are most abundant.

Things You'll Need

Rubber boots
Rubber gloves
Seine net with poles
Ice
Bucket

Instructions

- 1
  Go to a location where smelt gather in greater numbers, such as near gravel shores or spring-fed tributaries, which they use as spawning grounds. Early spring is the best time to net bay smelt.
- 2
  Wear high rubber boots and gloves, as you'll be wading into the bay to trap them.
- 3
  Wade out as far as you can in the water, at dusk or later, when the fish are most active. Hold the poles above your head so the net remains out of the water. A net dragging through water will scare away the smelt.
- 4
  Place the seine net poles down in the water.
- 5
  Walk back toward shore, dragging the poles along the bay floor. Keep the poles down to the floor, maintaining a slow pace to avoid accidentally lifting the net and letting smelt escape. The smelt will be trapped as you move the net toward land.
- 6
  Close the net on itself, so the fish don´t escape once you are back on land.
- 7
  Put the caught smelt in a bucket and cover with ice to keep them fresh.

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