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Post by team one stop on Apr 24, 2021 10:35:42 GMT -6
Ended up with about a 5 gallon bucket.
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Post by Runs over on Apr 25, 2021 11:48:12 GMT -6
So who still getting smelt?
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Post by NO BS on Apr 26, 2021 0:28:36 GMT -6
Funny thing, we were cleaning fish from last Saturday night. 90% were male no joke. I'm wondering if they got shut out due to the cold weather. If anyone has any updates, please report.
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Post by Runs over on Apr 26, 2021 7:31:18 GMT -6
When I found them in the river, all the rocks from deep to shallow was cover in smelt eggs. Judging from that the females have already been thru spawning maybe in the early am. I don't think there's another push BS.
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Post by Yo on Apr 26, 2021 13:20:57 GMT -6
When I found them in the river, all the rocks from deep to shallow was cover in smelt eggs. Judging from that the females have already been thru spawning maybe in the early am. I don't think there's another push BS. Where is this river so i can go check and verify
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Post by Oldstar on Apr 26, 2021 13:27:01 GMT -6
I remember a run like this years past, pretty slow for a long time. Then Pow! All at once the big females came in on a big run for 3-4 nights. We filled up the old Bonneville. Maybe Domino Dave is right?
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Post by dominodaves on Apr 26, 2021 16:13:36 GMT -6
Back in 2017, the run began on PP on April 13th....early ice melt, early spring! Almost identical to this year. And we had cold weather after that, bad winds, and a long cool funkie spring. Sound familiar?.....ah yeah!!!! All the posts are still here on the 2017 thread so that we can all read them to verify what has happened in past years.
And guess what? They had big hauls of smelt on PP as late as May 6th, 7th and 8th that year! So I'm betting any warm weather or some sun or a combination of both will reinvigorate the run...so don't give up yet...I haven't!!!!
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fjord
Full Member
Posts: 17
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Post by fjord on Apr 26, 2021 19:09:12 GMT -6
I hope so because we have not gotten up to Duluth yet.
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Post by tundraking on Apr 27, 2021 7:05:57 GMT -6
When I found them in the river, all the rocks from deep to shallow was cover in smelt eggs. Judging from that the females have already been thru spawning maybe in the early am. I don't think there's another push BS. So are you saying because females have already laid eggs in the river that the run is done? All of the females come in at one time and lay and its over? I'm pretty new to this, so hopefully a couple seasoned vets can speak up to the spawn cycle of smelt, but I was under the assumption that there are a lot more smelt out there than what can come in over the course of one night. Isn't it a continual thing until they are finished spawning, and weather can affect the length of time the whole cycle occurs? I was at another river that I know people had dipped smelt a couple weeks before. It was covered in eggs, but most of what I caught were also females in there to lay eggs. So common sense tells me this is an ongoing thing until they are done...
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Post by dominodaves on Apr 27, 2021 11:18:02 GMT -6
Your assumptions are correct. The run in the rivers typically will go for 2 weeks or so depending on conditions. So far this year we seem to have had about 1 or 2 weeks of decent conditions....with no huge pushes in the rivers and maybe 1 night of big results on the sands of PP.
My guess is that when things warm back up, the run will resume. Yes, with billions of smelt in Lake Superior it takes quite a while for them all to spawn. But they need the proper conditions to do so! They are very adaptable but still!!! They need warmer waters!
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Post by sandburr on Apr 28, 2021 6:33:54 GMT -6
I have a friend that has been fishing out in the area. He is reporting huge pods of smelt in deeper water. I believe Dave is going to be spot on and this weekend will be your time to shine!
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Post by tikimaster on Apr 29, 2021 9:59:36 GMT -6
Tried the Lester for a couple hours last night. Pretty slow. Only getting a couple every 15 mins or so. Mix of m/f. Left before midnight but they did seem to be picking up a little bit. Watching the big orange moon rise was awesome and made the whole night worth it!!
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Post by TBone on Apr 29, 2021 10:03:01 GMT -6
I have a friend that has been fishing out in the area. He is reporting huge pods of smelt in deeper water. I believe Dave is going to be spot on and this weekend will be your time to shine! Wondering if the smelts still running. If anyone will try tonight and post some reports, it is appreciated.
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Post by Hmong on Apr 29, 2021 11:03:50 GMT -6
Was at pp 9 to bout 12. Maybe 30 smelt total. Went to lester. Got enough for a meal.
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Post by dominodaves on Apr 29, 2021 19:34:19 GMT -6
I came up tonight to check things out. So i will give some updates tonight!
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