Michigan Smelt FISHING!! (Catch and COOK!!)

Beautiful night out in SW Michigan smelt fishing for my first time! I see why this unique style of fishing is so popular after finally experiencing it for myself! Please take a minute and subscribe to the channel for more Michigan fishing action!!
Smelt flies --- Gull-Lake-Smelt-Factory-Ice-Flies-111745693907282/
Gerber fishing scissors.... amzn.to/3aha7fn

[@Basspro1234]

Set the hook as soon as you see your tip twitch. Don’t wait. 👍

[@tcburgess2939]

Had to subscribe..Phil is a good friend of mine it’s awesome seeing his flies on here!

[@themichiganangler4746]

Great guy! Thanks for the sub!

[@IntuitiveUniversity]

Love the reactions. I recommend just an egg wash and Italian bread crumbs. They'll flake apart easily and taste great. Smelt are good anyway you cook them. cool video.

[@themichiganangler4746]

They are delicious!! Thanks for watching!

[@JOHNKIMOLDHAM1996]

What happened to smelt fishing with a net back in the 80’s? That’s that smelt fishing I enjoyed…. Help advise

[@Beastmode42]

I laughed so hard when you lost that fish 😆😆

[@stumpstump4235]

Gull lake in my opinion has some of the biggest and also most numbers of smelt. I love taking trips out there also the occasional Atlantic salmon as well. Nice video

[@stumpstump4235]

Near Barry county

[@themichiganangler4746]

Thank you for watching!!

[@frackyouasshat5531]

Great bait for brown trout

[@themichiganangler4746]

I bet! Thanks for watching!

[@mickeyvance5974]

Sweet more spot blasting

[@themichiganangler4746]

😂 😂

[@UBDSLO1]

Was funny watching the wife's reaction!!! I think with smelt, you either really like them, or not. Great vid!

[@themichiganangler4746]

Lol she didn’t go back for seconds 😂

[@TacticoolCraig]

I always went out as a kid with dip nets in the spring when they spawn. Never ice fished for them . We used to cut the head off , slit the belly all with scissors . Then dust in seasoned flour and fry in oil, outside lol. Salt and ketchup loved seeing this

[@ronsmall2670]

Never met anybody that didn’t like him if you debone them they lay flat and they’re easy to cook

[@rubbnsmoke]

@@themichiganangler4746 And you could tell the kid ran off and spit it out. He certainly didn't grab a second on either. Personally I LOVE em'.

[@frackyouasshat5531]

Back in the day when those things work usually plentiful 50 gallon Knights were not unusual but that was dipping not catching

[@themichiganangler4746]

I’ve heard that from a lot of people! Crazy!

[@LaoOregonKayakfishing]

The double red shanty behind is ours.

[@themichiganangler4746]

O awesome man how’d you guys do that night?

[@LaoOregonKayakfishing]

There was 4 off us, I got 65 of the 7inch one and 120 small. The other 3 guys got about the same. We were fishing the depth of 82ft.

[@joshuamiller5057]

Dont beer batter the smelt, ruins the taste!! Clean, rinse, toss in some Kentucky kernel flour mix in some salt n pepper, then devour!! Get a shaker from Sportsmans warehouse !!! Keep the honey hole on the download!!

[@TacticoolCraig]

Salt and ketchup lol, I treated them like french fries as a kid. I hated the work then but wish they would still run like they did 25 years ago

[@themichiganangler4746]

Yea I have been hearing a lot of story’s about the good old days! Went out again last night and got a few more!

[@TacticoolCraig]

@@themichiganangler4746 I’m only 36 so it’s hard saying the good old days for me, but it’s reality the fishing isn’t the same anymore. Invasive species will sadly be our new catch of the day. In my home town lake simcoe is now gobie central. I catch more of them from shore in summer than any other species

[@themichiganangler4746]

It seems that the evolution of fishing is definitely negative in most cases. I’m always pretty happy if I go out and successfully catch the target species I’m after but when people say o yea we used to catch smelt by the bucketful and we worked HARD for just a few, it is quite disappointing.

[@TacticoolCraig]

@@themichiganangler4746 I have fun catching anything, I don’t need a bucketful for my self. Great seeing you get a meals worth for the family.

[@TacticoolCraig]

Don’t be disappointed you were outside when many are trapped indoors from COVID-19. You reminded me of my younger days when everything was simple. 🙂 in Ontario where I live it is family day long weekend. Hope you are spending it with yours

[@dougmarlow9466]

They r best crunchy, I eat the whole smelt - the head.

[@badsnapebadsnapebadsnape9506]

Did you tip the Hali jig with bait?

[@themichiganangler4746]

Yea I did(not sure if that’s normal though) I did catch a few on the hali though!

[@badsnapebadsnapebadsnape9506]

@@themichiganangler4746 What we do for smelt is we use Hali jigs and tip it with a tiny hunk of smelt meat. It works like a charm for us!

[@themichiganangler4746]

O wow very good tip! I’ll try that out on my next trip!

[@lapetitmocha7633]

My fiance live in UP, in front of the lake... Do we have to fish further to catch fish? Because his step son didn't catch anything... Is it safe to eat?

[@themichiganangler4746]

Which lake and fish species are you after?

[@lapetitmocha7633]

@@themichiganangler4746 he is in lake michigan, i haven't tried fresh water fish. I'm curious as I'm migrating there in the future. Anything that I can consume safe, salmon would be good but i don't think it lives in shallow water

[@themichiganangler4746]

@@lapetitmocha7633 youll have to look into the michigan eat safe guide to find out what's safe to eat where you are at. the salmon stay deep until the spawn in the fall.

[@lapetitmocha7633]

Would we be able to catch perch or Wall Eye?

[@themichiganangler4746]

@@lapetitmocha7633 possibly depending on the time of year

[@glenknapke6771]

ATE SHEEPHEAD

[@themichiganangler4746]

Was it good

[@stevekeres431]

mmmm....mmmm.... MMMMMM!!!! That kid is cute

[@themichiganangler4746]

Lol he sure is! Thanks for watching

[@heyitsjustme.680]

Smelt, one at a time, seems really tedious.

[@themichiganangler4746]

It was but very fun!

[@ronsmall2670]

Better than none at all

[@rubbnsmoke]

Ya DON'T batter smelt!!! Just dredge in lightly seasoned flour and fry. Such a delicate delicious fish. So wrong to overpower them by coating with thick batter. IF you insist on using a batter mix, you dredge them in the dry batter mix and fry. But NEVER dip them in thick batter to fry...EVER! And to be honest, if you like your fish coated with a thick batter coating you really don't like fish do you? If it's gotta be coated with thick batter, you really don't like the fish itself.

[@twistedstemsfarmms572]

Ur doing to much trying to hard all u need is a bell sinker and 3 single hooks and rubber glow beads on ur hook tipped with minnow s chunks the smelt can't swallow the bait with all that junk on ur hooks and let the fish run with ur bait u will catch 3 at a time

[@themichiganangler4746]

So don’t set the hook so fast when they bite ?

[@twistedstemsfarmms572]

Yes let them run for about 5 sec. .. I was on gull last week ... Hey is the south end of the lake frozen now

[@twistedstemsfarmms572]

@@themichiganangler4746 hey is the south end of the lake frozen

[@themichiganangler4746]

@@twistedstemsfarmms572 north end just locked up someone fell in yesterday. Should be good by next week

[@twistedstemsfarmms572]

@@themichiganangler4746 I was on the bay the north end 2 weeks ago had about 6 inches out fr Moe s bait shop.. the south end had ducks swim n about. Hopefully it will freeze 🥶