BAY MILLS - The smelt are running! The smelt are running! But where are they? Across the Great Lakes more than 250,000 Michigan anglers take to the streams late at night during spawning runs to catch the fish, but this year many are coming up empty handed. The small fish, once abundant in the Great Lakes, has proven to be elusive to many local fishermen this spring. A once famous pastime for many locals, smelting runs that used to produce bucketfuls of the tasty little morsel may be a thing of the past as reports are the fish are far and few between.
Smelt are not native to the Great Lakes; they were actually introduced in the waters by accident in 1906. The fish were being stocked in the streams and lakes that feed into Lake Michigan to provide food for salmonids. From that time their numbers increased rapidly.
"Traditionally smelt levels were at a high population density," said Bay Mills Fisheries Technician Skip Parish. "I remember back in the mid-70s when Pendills Creek was overflowing with smelt, and now it's hard to catch one out of it."
Parish speculated that the fish are spawning outside of creeks and near sandbars and such due to the low water levels and declining nutrient levels in the lakes. Another factor contributing to the decline is the natural rehabilitation of lake trout, which primarily feed on smelt.
Fisheries interns Josh Parish and Justin Carrick didn't have much luck on their smelting adventures this year either.
"It wasn't a very good year," said Parish. "The numbers were low." Carrick concurred with that opinion adding this spring was among one of the worst he has seen.
"Every overabundant species eventually levels off. Right now it has been hit and miss for many fishermen," said Skip Parish. "Will there be an abundance? Probably not, but you should be able to get enough for a meal or two."
For more information on when and where the smelt are running call the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fishing Report line, open 24 hours, at 517-373-0908.
