Do you like Smelts? (Portland, Bangor: appointed, restaurant, land)

[Dwatted Wabbit]

Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid

I've never actually cooked them and eaten them however have been the "lucky" one to have brought the first one up thru the hole and been forced to bite the head off. Not pleasant, but a long time tradition. Now tell me how many of you haven't done that after a long day of 'ice drinkin'? C'mon....

Wash it down with the last of the tequila and the worm at the bottom. Yummy!!

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Dwatted Wabbit

Wash it down with the last of the tequila and the worm at the bottom. Yummy!!

I used to fish mostly the Abbagadasset and the Muddy Rivers in Bowdoinham.
We used to do put all the girls together in one camp and the guys in another and it became a huge competetion. More than once one of the guys would come drop a fish down our chimney, lovely.



"Tequila makes my clothes fall off"

[Northern Maine Land Man]

These are salt water smelts. Up here in the far frozen north we get our smelts from brooks that run into deep cold lakes. I was out smelting with my future brother-in-law years ago and it was about 2 AM and raining. There was still snow in the woods. We had about 4 smelts. The next brook we tried had a good run going and I was being careful not to snag my father-in-law's net on a root or rock. His net was old and weak. Suddenly I dipped a large sucker about 16 inches long. I swung the net onto the bank and took the sucker out of the net. I turned and heaved that sucker as hard as I could up into the woods.

With the rushing brook and the rain I couldn't hear anything else and there was a man walking behind me. He got hit smack in the face with that sucker going about 40 MPH. He put his net and pail down and I thought to myself, "I'm going to die!"

The old guy looked around, looked at me, picked up his pail and net and said, "SOB, I'm going home," and up the trail he went. Maybe he gave up on smelt fishing right then and there. I never said a word.

We took our smelts home and had smelt and eggs for breakfast. Some people snip the heads off. Some people have special barber shears they have sharpened to a point and clean the smelts with one snip. Some people take the bellies off their clams. I don't know why. We just fry our smelts whole. Mmmm good.

[CapeCodder]

I'll be open minded about the smelts...but just from what I'm reading, there is (so far) nothing that has sounded appealing about the smelts! =)

[Northern Maine Land Man]

They have a sweet and delicate flavor. Back then the limit was 5 quarts so two guys could fill a 10 quart pail. Now the limit is 2 quarts and the usual measure is a half gallon milk carton. I never counted the smelts, but with fresh water smelts there are a whole lot in a half gallon container. We breaded ours in a corn meal and flour mix. Just put a hand full in a paper bag with the mix and shake the bag. Deep fry them until the coating is golden brown. It doesn't take long.

[Maineah]

The tidal smelts we are catching now run up the streams and brooks as spring arrives. There is a 3 quart limit on them starting March 15. That's when everyone takes their shack off. You can still walk up the brooks at night with hip boots and a flashlight through April and grab them by hand as they swim by. That's fun! I never did much smelting on the lakes but I hear it's pretty much the same thing. The smelts run a bit smaller and look shinier than the tidal ones. Still pretty tasty though! I hear smelts are a Christmas Eve tradition in many Italian families. Does anyone have any family recipes?

[quiet walker]

Do I like smelts? I don't know... But I love the title of this thread When I was a wee child my grandfather looked forward to the running of the shad (a bony, oily fish) on the Potomac. It is still a regular event. I see lots of fisherfolk on the riverbanks then. When I worked for the Navy, another small fish, the mullet, was a favorite of folks in Florida. They used to hang out around the big warm submarines (the water is lighted). Sometimes you would see a whole bunch of them leap out of the water en masse. That was when a big black ray passed by... Once we saw a _big_ black sting ray mama with her little ones around the boat - that was quite awesome. No mullets around then.

[Maineah]

Name for a new bar...The Smiling Smelt. First round is on me!

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by Maineah

Name for a new bar...The Smiling Smelt. First round is on me!

I'll drink to that - I can imagine a Melvillian sign

[Maineah]

I love the sucker story....too funny!