Spring Smelting

[Woodsman]

I think habitat loss by way of water levels may have a big impact but also, if we keep harvesting the hell out of them when they are on their spawning runs, I'm sure that must impact them as well.

The biggest factor in the reduction in smelt IMO was the introduction of salmon & rainbows into the Great Lakes. In part they were introduced to control the alewife's but they liked the smelt also.

[longpointer]

Many years ago on Lake Simcoe near Brechin the smelt would run so thick we had to dump some out of the net in order to lift it.