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Post by NetMaster on May 7, 2017 5:24:06 GMT -6
Park point past the airport last night. NE winds picked up the let up slightly... 8-9:00 ... 3 Smelt and soaking wet. 9-11:00 2 gallons of smelt... and even more soaking wet. Started washing off the seine to go try the rivers. As we were rolling up the seine in the water we caught a random smelt. I was wondering why a smelt had basically jumped into our net, when 5 min earlier our pulls were no more than smelt... so I grabbed the dip net and ran it about 5 feet from shore... with the dip net I pulled in 10 smelt! My son and I had a blast running dip nets for the next hour and got a solid 5 gallons that way. Then pulled back out the seine from 12-2:00 and got another 10 gallons. .... and some great memories with my son! Loading up in the parking lot and more than a few with little to show for the effort. (We have those memories as well from other trips)
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Post by dominodaves on May 7, 2017 11:09:26 GMT -6
Awesome post Netmaster! 10 per scoop on the samd would have been huge pulls! Sounds like fun!
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Post by 9527 King on May 7, 2017 14:26:49 GMT -6
You guys think it will the smelt RUN will last till this weekend?
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Post by thedeceive on May 8, 2017 11:20:06 GMT -6
Last night, airport, a buddy got over 40 gallons. Looks like they're still running.
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Post by fishman11 on May 9, 2017 5:05:14 GMT -6
Had an average yr. Being from way south, getting up there wasn't easy on a consistent basis. Weather seemed to shut it down a bit, but kicked it back into gear for one last chance to get up there this past weekend. Got about 10 gallons. Thanks everyone for the updates, see you next season!
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Post by NetMaster on May 9, 2017 9:59:37 GMT -6
Awesome post Netmaster! 10 per scoop on the samd would have been huge pulls! Sounds like fun! The smelt ran to shore as soon as they saw us packing up! (the smelt knew we were beat and couldn't make another pull anytime soon When the smelt make the run into the sand to spawn they are supper charged, like they just drank a RedBull and then made a run for it!! Some of them were even jumping out of our dip nets and flying through the air as we pulled the net up out of the water! We ran the dip nets from a few feet from shore and then out deeper water. We tried to pull the dip nets straight up out of the water so they couldn't jump out but some were still making the leap! Then getting them from the dip net into the bucket was a challenge because as we dumped the net into the bucket they would start jumping and we lost more than a few that way. With the wire dip nets we had on hand (the newer ones with a smaller mesh) I lost a more than a few very good sized smelt that some how managed to escape through the dip net itself. It was crazy to see them amped like that! Getting jumping smelt into a bucket in waves is very difficult, plus each wave is a chance to lose it all if your pail tips. Some advice .... I wish I would have had my smelt bag rather than a 5 gallon pale to hold my smelt: When I dip net in the rivers I a regular dip net and then I dump them in a mesh laundry bag (half circle) with a wire opening while I'm in the water. The bag stays open on the top but won't take on water like a bucket will or get dumped with the waves. Something like this on amazon.. I think I picked mine up at Walmart: Bajer Over The Door Hanging Hamper,26'' H. x 13'' W. x 13'' D, White. by Bajer Link: a.co/bFxSD2j
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Post by Asking on May 9, 2017 10:29:00 GMT -6
Was anyone out last night
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Post by Mark on May 9, 2017 21:41:35 GMT -6
Netmaster: I like your idea on using that hanging hamper. How are you attaching a pole to that? Would you mind posting a pic?
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Post by NetMaster on May 9, 2017 22:31:33 GMT -6
My bad!!! Thanks for asking! What I was trying to say is to use the hamper to hold the smelt after you catch them with a normal dip net. Most people use buckets of some sort to put the smelt in that you catch, while you are dip netting but that doesn't work well for this. (not saying I haven't thought about using the hamper as the dip net... but I have not actually tried that yet.... but yeah that could work.. yep Im trying it next year and will let you know! (I edited my original post to make it say what I meant, thanks)
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Post by Mark on May 10, 2017 0:01:23 GMT -6
Thanks for the clarification NetMaster!
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Post by Tonight on May 10, 2017 0:22:48 GMT -6
Was out with a few others, for a gallon or so.
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Post by TAXI Tony on May 10, 2017 1:19:12 GMT -6
Hoping to get over there tomorrow night...i know it's late in the run but this will be my first time smelting and I've been anxiously reading every post since the forum was below 10 pages, id like to thank everybody for their willingness to share their stories and keep weather and success reports flowing in. Driving from bemidji and plan on trying park's point...though I feel i will stand out being in my wetsuit...
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Post by Smelting dudeds on May 10, 2017 7:07:53 GMT -6
Was out with a few others, for a gallon or so. Wow.spawn is going on 5 weeks now..!!
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Post by if youf go on May 10, 2017 7:17:29 GMT -6
Tony, try at the airport if you go, good luck. There was a guy just using a hand held net getting half a bucket last night, I don't k ow how he did it.
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Post by fishman11 on May 10, 2017 11:24:41 GMT -6
My buddies went by the airport last night got 3 gallons, but the people next to them filled half a large cooler. Hope this helps.
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