Its getting to be that time of the year....I've heard nothing....Can anyone shed some light on a 2018 Smelt season????

I predict a track suit hatch on the river. Nostrovia!

Where would replacement smelt bags (nets) be available locally? I have two nets needing new bags, and I'd like to get at least one of them ready to go, in case there's an opening. Thanks for any info.

I go by the water temperature of 43*F for the migration to ramp up. I'm thinking about a month from now they will have a better run size estimate.

Just got the following. The graphs and tables didn't come through.


Recent returns and this year’s forecast

 Numbers of spawning adult eulachon, as spawning stock biomass (SSB) in pounds, back- calculated from annual eulachon larvae production estimates, has been estimated since 2011 for the Columbia River and tributaries.

 Total run-size has been estimated from combined harvest and SSB estimates.

 Eulachon abundance increased steadily from 2011 to 2014, reaching a peak of 16.6 million pounds, and has since declined the past three years:



 Ocean environmental conditions were favorable for marine survival during 2012-2013, but have deteriorated the past three years.

 The 2018 return is expected to be smaller in magnitude than the 2017 return.



Recent fisheries

 Both commercial and recreational fisheries were closed to all harvest in 2011-2013.

 Very conservative reduced Level-1 fisheries were reinstated in 2014 to collect biological and catch per effort data.

 The 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 commercial fisheries each consisted of eight fishing periods over four weeks in the mainstem Columbia River.

 The recreational fishery provided: two meaningful days of harvest opportunity in the Cowlitz River during 2014 and 2015 (five days in 2014 and two days in 2015) along with an opportunity in the Sandy River; and, one day in the Cowlitz River during 2016 and 2017.

Help, help, help......If a person lived in the Montesano area could they legally dip and keep smelt if available during a open fishing season......see #2 below


WAC 220-56-270 Smelt - Areas and seasons
(1) Unlawful to fish for or possess Columbia River smelt or eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus).

(2) Fishing for smelt other than Columbia River smelt or eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) is permitted the entire year on Pacific Ocean beaches and in all rivers concurrent with a salmon or gamefish opening, except closed in the Columbia River and tributaries.

(3) Fishing for smelt other than Columbia River smelt or eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus) is open in Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca year-round except: (a) Closed weekly from 10:00 p.m. Tuesday to 6:00 a.m. Friday for all gear types except forage fish jig gear; and (b) Closed year-round in Catch Record Card Area 12 for all gear types. (c) Violation of this subsection is an infraction, punishable under RCW 77.15.160.

(4) It is unlawful to possess smelt taken with gear in violation of the provisions of this section. Possession of smelt while using gear in violation of the provisions of this section is a rebuttable presumption that the smelt were taken with such gear. Possession of such smelt is punishable under RCW 77.15.380
Unlawful recreational fishing in the second degree -- Penalty, unless the smelt are taken in the amounts or manner to constitute a violation of RCW 77.15.370 Unlawful recreational fishing in the first degree -- Penalty

Depends on the species. Not Eulachon (the CR smelt). Surf Smelt or Long-finned Smelt come to mind as options.

How would the average person know the difference ???????

Is the Chehalis River system a breeding/rearing area for the Columbia River smelt???

Wynoochee... 3 yrs ago.

Columbia River Smelt is a "common" name for the Eulachon, which is found, I think, from Alaska to northern California. Same species.

Part of being a sportsman. There are all sorts of guidebooks available. Of course, WDFW could help by producing some cheap ID books (Cal F&G had a fantastic series).

You just haven't lived until you've dipped for smelt with a bunch of DRUNK Michigan rednecks (which may or may not have included me...can't say that I remember all too much). How everyone doesn't die is beyond me. EPIC chitshow, but smelt by the truck loads. Tasty little buggers.

Would like to do some dipping here, but is it even worth it? I've heard mixed reports on if it is...???

College prof of mine went to Cornell. During the smelt run there, he and some friends would go out to the nearby stream, harvest a limit, cook them over an open fire (washed down with beer), and then repeat after midnight when a new daily limit could be collected.

I spent many a cold rainy day as a kid spotting and scooping smelt on the neighborhood beach. I’d take them home and my mom would fry them up for me. Good memories.

Fishing the Togiak in Alaska the smelt were so thick in early king season that some spots couldn’t be fished for Salmon. Smelt like K-15 kwikfish which seemed odd.

This thread is making me hungry. The great lakes smelt were pretty small, so they just got a quick scissors treatment to gut out and then into the deep fryer head and all.

So for smelt the size of the one in Doc's pic, do ya'll head and fin them first or do you eat it all? Is that one a standard size or is it considered a "trophy" for lack of a better term?

I was thoroughly underwhelmed the only time I tried to cook them. The meat was really soft and largely flavorless. It was kinda like deep fried mashed potatoes with a creamy, white, bland inside and crusty deep fried outside. I did smoke a bunch head and all and they turned out decent.

Off with the head, tails and guts and toss them in a bowl. You can
get it down to a few seconds per fish with practice. My dad used
to roll them in some secret batter mix..then..

Fry 'em up and eat 'em like popcorn, and don't forget a good beer to wash it all down...

On the flavorability scale, smelt fall somewhere between a fish stick made from pollock and a lowland lake planter trout. You can eat them "in the round", but I've seen some parasites in the guts I scissored out, so I always clean them. Besides, the first question you're going to get when you try to give 240 leftover smelt to friends and neighbors is, "Are they cleaned?"

Dipped smelt from the Cowlitz decades ago. Tried them fried and smoked. Best way then was to feed them to my chickens and eat the resulting eggs. Did have some raw smelt at a Japanese restaurant once that was the very best way to have them. Sake might have aided in that evaluation.

Hmmm could it be as a result from coming out of the salt? The GL smelt are in fresh water their whole lives and they were really good. I'm not much of a fish eater, so I shy away from anything either uber fishy tasting or mushy - but I loved the GL smelt.

Might be. Over the last few years I have been successful in bagging some geese. Almost all Cacklers with one Aleutian Cackler. The Aleutian was close to inedible.All were taken on the Opener so I think they had all recently come from the Far North. I think that the Aleutian had fed on different plants and that is what changed its taste. Probably more of its diet was sea-influenced as they nest on the islands. That might be the same thing as is happening with the smelt.

Smelt in fish net just seems so dirty.

Smelt......some people just like them, fried of smoked.........there are many others that "don't want anything to do with them".

I LIKE THEM, fried or smoked............I even vacuum some to have later in the year. Can be a welcome change from salmon or summer run steelhead.

This from the Oregonian re their commission's expectations for smelt dipping...

The smelt outlook, also coming up Feb. 9 at the Sheraton Inn commission meeting, remains depressed. It's unknown whether any sport dipping will be allowed in the Cowlitz River and only limited commercial dipping will likely occur and that only to collect biological information.

Smelt Steelhead Lamprey Sturgeon.
Who goes extinct first?

Sturgeon probably last, due to their long lives. They may functionally extinct but, like Galapagos tortoises, hang on for 50 to 100 years before they die.

Steelhead is my guess. This in Region Five is the only sportfish.

2/13/2018....I called Region 5 today to "talk smelt", here what I was told....2 commercial boats have been fishing, 47 total for 1 day, birds are not "diving" for fish.....looks like a "hang up the smelt net for this year.

Was told its the same report California to Canada........grrrrrrrrr

When I was a Fishcop on the Cowlitz in the 70's and early 80's, I looked for an increased abundance of seals in the Columbia to indicate the pending arrival of the annual smelt run. I watched the over harvest take place, as everyone with half a brain predicted. Now what do we have? No smelt. Changing ecosystem. The incredibly huge runs brought out the worst in people. There is a certain fascination of people dipping a net into the river and finding it full of fish. Once in awhile someone would dip up a steelhead or spring king. On a good night in the mid 70's a good smelt dipper might get 20 pounds in a dip. Greed would set in in too many instances. In one case I wrote tickets to two guys from Seattle who had taken more than two thousand pounds of smelt. (Yes, 2,000) My patrol truck would hardly steer with all those in the back of it. Smelt make good sturgeon bait. I miss the carnival atmosphere of the big runs of old. If you're seeing increased bird activity it is from dead or spawned out smelt indicating the run had peaked. I had always heard that the water temperature that lured smelt into the Cowlitz was 46 degrees. Seems about right when correlated with a warm rain.

If only we could go back to those days and hit the reset button Tug.
Saw JJ at the barber the other day.
It's been years.

No smelt dipping is what I told today.

I volunteered as an Aquatic Education instructor for many years. Perhaps that is why I am blessed to still be here today after a mishap in the service years. To be a thorn in the Harvest at any cost mindset management.

Well xhit, I even bought a looooong handle net, after going down last year and seeing what a "real smelt net" looks like.

Well maybe, next year??????????

Drifter, Just come up to PA and you can barrow my surf smelt nets and fish the beach this summer.