When the ice goes out in the spring and the start of the fishing season begins one of the first activities is to head north for the annual smelt run. I have been doing it for many years. we have had some experiences that deserves mentioning. The first year that I went I was invited to go with a group that had many years behind them. Not having a good pair of waders at the time I borrowed a pair from a neighbor. We were to fish the north side of the Carp River. It was necessary to go to the end of the access road and park your vehicle and then walk through the woods for about a quarter mile trudging through a couple swales and over down trees in the dark. Any fish you dipped had to be carried out the same way you came in. We were told that the smelt would start to run shortly after dark and slowly increase until the full run came about midnight. The day had been pleasantly warm but as the sun went down it turned colder. By the time we reached the north side of the Carp river it was nearly freezing. Ice would form on your dip net as soon as it came out of the water. I waded in the stream a short distance to get to deep water and found that my borrowed waders didn't keep the water out. There was a hole somewhere at about ankle depth. That water was cold. The fish didn't run that night but we stayed until the wee hours of the morning before we gave up and those wet feet got continually colder. A very unpleasant experience.
The next episode worth mentioning was the time Philip , Eugene and I drove up to the south side of the Carp to the public landing area. It was raining intermittently so we stayed in the pickup until some one yelled the smelt were running. We were coming up with a net nearly full at every dip In just a few minutes every thing we had was full. We even topped off all our buckets the second time. We headed for home stopping at Ferris University where Philip and Jim were attending school. we left them enough for them to have a fish fry. Our eyes were to big and we still had way to many fish to handle so I vowed that from then on I would only take what we could easily handle. My dip net at that time had a screw on handle that would screw off as you made your dips. I lost it in the river but Eugene dipped it up for me. The next year I was back in the same place. The current was strong so when the net came off the handle again the current carried it off and we couldn't find it. I have often wondered if someone ever caught it while line fishing.
A few years later fishing the north side we were getting a sucker once in awhile and one time I brought up a sea lamphrey. The first one I had ever seen.
A few years later John Ruiter and I went up to his cabin west of Rudyard. We planned to try dipping at night and then go trout fishing the next day as it was the season opener. We again went on the North side of the carp. The fish didn't make a big run that night as we only had less than a five gallon pail full but we did come up with several suckers. Back at the cabin we buried the pails in a snow bank on the north side of the cabin. Our trout fishing started a little before noon on the Sullivan a stream three or four miles north of John's cabin. Returning at about five we discovered a bear had been there and helped himself to our suckers. He had eaten them all except for a couple heads. Our paper carton of milk had a bite out of the side showing very distinctly the size and shape of his teeth. He did not disturb our smelt I have wondered if it was because he didn't like them or if we returned in time before he had found them.
In later years we have been making an annual trip for perch on Drummond Island at about the same time the smelt run occurs. There are a couple of small streams on the island that has a smelt run in them. They are no more than four or five feet wide and maybe six inches of water in them. One night I set the alarm for four O'clock in the mourning. We got up put on our clothes and drove about a mile to the stream. We had to walk about a hundred yards to the place that the stream emptied into the bay. It was black with fish and we started dipping from the lower end and working up stream. Jerry and I took turns with the dip net as we only had one with us. The other held the flash light and a pail to dump them in. In a short time we had scooped up most of the smelt present but our pails were full. We returned to our cabin and was washing fish before five o'clock.
The spring perch fishing on Drummond Island has not been very good the last few years so this year we made plans to go for smelt on the Carp. We would stay in Dave Folkersmas cabin on Munuscong Bay. Dave would give us a telephone call when the smelt started to run . His call came on the weekend and we went up on Monday. We all had new waders and were anxious to try them. A few fish appeared shortly after dark and we started dipping. only a few at a dip sometimes a half a dozen and by midnight three of us had about six gallons. We were going to quit for the night. Driving down the road toward Cedarville we past a couple of small streams that had produced fish in years past. several cars were parked side of the road so we stopped to see what was going on. One fisherman was coming up with a good batch of fish every dip. He said he had all he wanted and we could have his spot. In a very short time we had every container we had full for a total of over six five gallon pails full. There was plenty of snow back at the cabin to pack the fish in our coolers. They were all full. The second night we thought that we would pick up a small pail full for some people who said that they would like to have a fry. Back at the same stream at just about dark. Eight or ten cars were already there. I took up a position where two culverts emptied into one spot . One came under the main road and the other a small driveway. The water whirled where they came together. I had a small hole about two feet deep and four feet wide and six feet long. It was right close to shore and could be dipped without even stepping into the water. the stream traveled about a hundred yards around a corner where it emptied into Lake Huron. It has a rocky clay bottom so if you waded into it a murky cloud of water came up and washed down the stream. We were not there long before some dippers down stream began dipping a stray one here and there. George had found a place similar to mine on the other side of the stream across from me. The trick was to leave our holes unmolested and have the fish congregate for a few minutes and then make a couple of dips that produced a quaintly of smelt. In the mean time two cars of fisherman drove up with eight or ten men in them. They waded out in the middle of the stream . It was almost a joke to watch them . They had no pails to dump fish in with them so when they got a single smelt in their net they would run for shore about thirty feet away and then run back out again. After several trips running up and down that clay bottom you can imagine what was happening to the water. Finally they got smart by passing fish net to net to the shore. You can imagine how much work they were creating for themselves. To top it off one of them had a four foot square net, the kind that you would use off the pier in deep water at Grand Haven. He would throw it out and drag it to shore bouncing over rocks. I doubt that he brought in one smelt for all of his efforts. George and I had a few good dips that they saw and they moved in on us. First George was forced right out of his spot and then one of them moved in on me. I was standing on shore and had no place to go. At first he stood back and reached out as far as he could to get into my little hole. I was extremely irritated and was about to tell him off but I opted to suggest that if he walked in closer he would not have to bend over to reach my spot. I said it with all the sarcasm that I could. He took me litterly for what I said and stepped right up to the point that his dips were touching the grass at my feet. The result was George and I were both put out of business. We could have moved to another spot but there running around in the water sent a cloudy stream of water all the way to Lake Huron and any fish wanting to come up the stream were scared off , Those in the stream soon left so we had nothing but blank water. I guess I would have been much more upset by their antics if we had not had all the smelt and more than we needed back at the cabin I have been wondering if they could have been first time smelt fishermen. They sure had a lot to learn. I can not help but think that they are the same kind of people who will cut you off on the road while driving. Was I amiss for not playing Dutch uncle and giving them some advice.. It would probably would have fell on deaf ears and they would have considered me to be a meddling old fool. Oh well it takes all kinds to make up this world. And I can say that I think I done the Christian thing to hang onto my tongue, and not pushed the issue.
We cleaned fish for a day and a half after returning home. Mom put up nearly forty containers in the freezer. She is having fun giving them away. I calculated that if we had twenty five fish once a day for supper we would have had enough fish to last us a year and a half. I think that I would be tired of them by that time. We are making plans and looking forward to next year already.