Smelt Season Coming In Ashland, Wisconsin
By Maribeth Monroe, Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce.
The "Smelt Run" in the Chequamegon Bay usually starts around the third week in April shortly after the ice goes out of the Bay. Visitors and locals love “smelt season”. The smelt usually run late at night and are brought in with a seine net or dip net. The seine net is used on the shores of the big lake and some smelters use a dip net in the creeks. Smelting is always a fun time with the smell of the clean air of Chequamegon Bay and the awesome site of the many campfires along the shoreline. Smelters light campfires and enjoy the outdoors as they wait for the run to come in heavy. At times the smelt may start running at 9:00 p.m. or they may be running at Midnight or later.
Smelt are unpredictable little fish (approximately 4 to 5 inches in length) that only answer to Mother Nature. Smelt were planted in the lake many decades ago and are not a native fish in Lake Superior. Smelt season usually lasts 12 to 14 days.
There is an old tradition that you bite the head off the first smelt brought in. Of course you don’t actually eat the head, but you would be a brave smelter for sticking with tradition! For more information on smelt season in the Ashland Area, including the regulations and licensing for smelting call us at the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce at 800-284-9484. The Ashland Smelt Hot Line will be set up during the month of April.