Ashland Area Smelt Report for May 5, 2014
Although there is some open water in various spots along Ashland’s shoreline, there is still too much ice out there on Chequamegon Bay for the smelt to start their spawning run. Ashland’s “smelt run” normally starts around the third or fourth week in April, shortly after ice-out on the bay, and lasts only 12-14 days.
Northeast winds have blown the ice back into shore in some places, such as the beach behind Anglers All on the far-east side of town, and are keeping the ice here for now. We need winds from the south to carry the ice out of the bay. We also need a few consecutive days of bright sunshine with warmer temperatures to melt that ice!
Visitors and locals alike love the short but sweet smelt season on Chequamegon Bay. The smelt run usually peaks just after the ice leaves the bay, which we hope to see happen within the next week. Contrary to what some folks may have heard, the smelt do not run under the ice, according to seasoned fishing guide Roger LaPenter of Anglers All in Ashland. “They have to have open water to spawn.”
Typically, the smelt run is seen first in the Xcel Energy power plant’s “hot pond” on the Ashland side of the bay. 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 sight 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 p.m. or they may be running at midnight or later. They 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 to Lake Superior. 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 the custom.
For more information on smelting season in the Ashland area, go to our website, www.visitashland.com, or call us at 1-800-284-9484 as we currently have a smelt hotline set up. (NOTE: If you call before 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, you will reach one of our Chamber staff members who can give you the smelt report. If you call after 5 or on the weekends, you will hear the smelt hotline recording.) Please keep checking back for updates!
ALSO – To see a real-time image of Chequamegon Bay, check out Northern State Bank’s Bay Cam at http://www.nsbashland.com/bay_cam.html.
Important smelting rules and regulations from the Wis. Department of Natural Resources:
- Non-residents NEED a valid Wisconsin non-resident fishing license to harvest smelt. (These can be obtained at any licensing agent such as local bait shops, Walmart or the DNR building.)
- Wisconsin residents do NOT need a fishing license to harvest smelt.
- Residents CAN sell the smelt.
- Non-residents CANNOT sell the smelt.
- The smelt CANNOT be kept alive. The water must be emptied out of the buckets before leaving the beach.
- Do NOT transport or use live smelt for bait.
- ALL other fish including suckers CANNOT be kept. They must immediately be let go.
Dip Nets: Not exceeding 8 feet in diameter or 8 feet square, may be used only from April 1 to May 25 for taking smelt in Lake Superior and all streams flowing into Lake Superior in Bayfield, Ashland, Iron counties and the Brule River in Douglas County from a point beginning at their mouths and extending inland for a distance of one-half mile measured in a straight line. In Douglas County, smelt may also be taken on Bear Creek, Bluff Creek, Nemadji River, the St. Louis River and the other non-trout streams. In the waters of Ashland County, smelt may also be taken from streams not inhabited by trout, or on streams where active sea lamprey control structures are located.
Seines: Not more than 75 feet in length and not more than 6 feet in depth may be used from April 1 to May 25 for taking smelt in Lake Superior, St. Louis Bay, Superior Bay, Allouez Bay and from the mouth of the St. Louis River upstream to the North 28th Street landing in Douglas County.