Sandy smelthead?

[mikeee2362]

Had a great day on the Sandy today! Up long before the sun got to Cedar creek hatchery and was on my rock and ready to fish by 6. As soon as I could see my bobber, I started floating a Nightmare jig...2nd cast got the first fish, a nice little buck.

Fished for awhile longer, and had a couple takedowns, but couldn't hook up. The guy just upstream landed a pretty nice native, then lost a nice fish to a rock about a good 5 minutes into the fight...bummer for him. At about 10 I realized it was the last day of smelt season so I packed it in and beat feet for Troutdale to try some dipping. Beautiful day and Mt Hood was looking pretty glorious off in the distance on the hike out.

So I got to Troutdale about 11:20 and joined the circus. And I mean full on Barnum and Bailey action!

I did manage to squeeze in between a couple of hardcores up to their chest...with no waders dipping away semi-successfully getting a couple here and there, and managed to get in the last 20 minutes of the season, and scooped up about half a limit. Haven't dipped smelt in like 25 years, it was fun, and I wished I had thought to leave Sandy earlier.

All in all a great day on the Sandy!!

 

[FishFinger]

Congrats! What a day, you got a tasty dinner and springer bait!

Hats OFF to you sir!

 

[TimberTodd]

Good Lord that is a circus. Congrats on the nice steelie and future bait.

 

[Raincatcher]

What a great way to spend the day! Do you remember the smelt runs back in the 70's and 80's? Folks were literally scooping them up with 5 gallon buckets, no nets needed back then and the crowd was elbow to elbow out there. Some folks even enjoy them for dinner...:sad:

 

[JonT]

Nice! Doesn't get any better. How do you prep those smelt for eating?

 

[mikeee2362]

Nice! Doesn't get any better. How do you prep those smelt for eating?

What a great way to spend the day! Do you remember the smelt runs back in the 70's and 80's? Folks were literally scooping them up with 5 gallon buckets, no nets needed back then and the crowd was elbow to elbow out there. Some folks even enjoy them for dinner...:sad:

I was In Minnesota in the 70's and early 80's, but we used to do almost the same thing on the north shore of Lake Superior. Then there was no limit, and I saw a whole town came from Wisconsin with a water truck to fill...no wonder there really isn't a good run anymore...although here there seemed to be plenty if you had a long net!! Fun day for sure.

To prepare them you just head, gut, and scale them. Roll them in seasoned flour and deep fry them till they are golden brown...then enjoy 'em bones and all, crispy fins and tails are awesome!! We used to set up a production line when we had multiple fishermen's catches to clean, then have a big smelt fry! Good times.

 

[the rookie]

nice