Smelt Dippin': the Best Places in Michigan

Some Michiganders just can’t wait to go dippin’ for smelt...but you usually have only two months to do it: from March thru May. I remember when smelt dippin’ was hot stuff in the 1970s, local restaurants would feature smelt platters and dishes for a brief period. Big Boy restaurants even included it on their menus, as “Mess O’Smelt”.

My buddies and I always thought that was funny...

Smelt was not always that prevalent in Michigan. The little fishies are native to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and started invading our Great Lakes by accident. In 1912 thousands of smelt were sent to Michigan from New England (mostly Maine), to be used as food for salmon. They were stocked in Crystal Lake but escaped into Lake Michigan. Finally, in 1946, smelt were discovered in Lake Superior and that was the genesis of the smelt-dippin' frenzy.

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How’d there get to be so many? Lake trout had been eating the smelt, but sea lampreys in the lakes began feasting on the trout, reducing their population. With less trout to eat the smelt, the smelts survived and kept re-producing, with the females distributing about 20,000 eggs. The smelt survived by eating their own babies, minnows, and insect larvae.

Okay, so where are the best places to go smelt dippin’?

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, some of the best places to catch smelt in Michigan include:
Carp River in Mackinac County
Charlevoix
Crystal Lake
Dodge and Island Lakes in Schoolcraft County
Gratiot Lake in Keweenaw County
Higgins and Green Lake in Grand Traverse County
Keweenaw Bay near Baraga Lake
St. Clair River, Detroit River, and St. Marys River
Whitefish Bay and Munising Bay

Anyone up for some crispy-fried smelt and french fries?