Smelt Runs

When I was 11, my dad decided that we should go smelt dipping on Lake Huron. Smelt are a smaller fish, maybe slightly larger than a sardine. They live in, but are not native to the Great Lakes and in April every year they swim inland to spawn in gravel covered streams.

To prepare for this adventure we traveled to K-Mart and purchased chest high waders, and a large fish net with a six-foot handle. To round out the equipment, Dad installed an old galvanized wash tub into a car inner tube.

To set the scene, you sit on the beach, freezing, near a campfire waiting for the call that they are running. Sometime after dark, when the moon had risen the little suckers would frantically swim toward shore, seeking the creeks and rivers that fed the lake. When the call came, “They’re running!”, you would make a mad dash into the water, wade out waist deep, pulling your inner tube beside you and begin dipping. 

If indeed they were running, your net would emerge from the water full of shiny flopping fish, which you would dump into your floating wash tub. When they are running well, you can fill the tub in no time. 

Occasionally, some drunk would think it funny to scream they are running, when they were not. Only to watch the crowd run into the lake. These same drunks would also find amusement by vomiting into their camp fires and watch the flames shoot up due to the alcohol content in the vomit.

In the early to mid-70’s, Old US-23, the highway that ran along the shore in the Tawas to Oscoda area in Michigan, had many empty lots where you could pull in and camp. 

One of my mother’s greatest wishes came true for her during the 1974 Smelt trip. She and I drove to the nearby liquor store for supplies. Now mother had become fixated with the idea of getting to see a Streaker. Steaking was a fad where people would remove their clothing and run naked through a store or event. As she came out of the store that night, she heard a yell and turned, and saw a male streaker! Check that off the old bucket list!

My Dad, ever thinking ahead, bought an old wringer washer at a garage sale. Wringer washers had an open tub with an agitator and attached were two rollers that were used to ‘wring’ the water out of the clothing. His idea was to make it into a Smelt cleaning machine. The plan was to cut the head off the Smelt, run them through the wringer to remove the guts and have them land in the agitator tub for washing! It worked!

I haven’t embarked on another Smelt adventure since 1974 and from what I understand, the Smelt population today has declined and ‘runs’ are few and far between. The open land along the highway is now fenced and built up. Streaking would probably land you on the sex registry. 

Roy Richard 
October 2023