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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | I have run into a smelt shortage this year, as none of my usual suppliers(grocery stores) have any right now. I really need it for the upcoming pike season, and would like to know if anyone here has any knowledge of a supplier. I need 30-50 lbs of smelt in the 5-9" range(large) to get me through the winter. Prices in the past were $3.oo-$4.00 per lb. Please email me if you know of anyone with access to it. It will be a long, long winter without! Thanks a ton!!!
Jason Schillinger
[email protected]
Edited by Reef Hawg 12/8/2004 10:05 AM
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Try Trigs grocery Store in Rhinelander, they have a pretty complete fish shop. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Steve, I will try them. Do you have a phone number handy? Sorry to be a bother. |
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Posts: 32958
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Sure, 715.369.1470. Hope they can help! |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Thanks Steve!! Just tried them, and they did not have any nor did they know how to get any. They did say the BP gas station accross from Culvers may have some but I could not find that number. Oh well, I'll keep trying. Thanks for the help. |
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Posts: 382
| Jason,
The Morey's in Brainerd Mn always has them. I believe they would ship them for a price
www.moreys.com
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Posts: 333
Location: menasha wi 54952 | Jason,
Here is an option closer to home. The local wholesaler in Kaukauna is Daves Bait. His number is 920-766-1757. He has HUGE quality fresh smelt. You can buy them two ways. Two pound packages for $6.50(Six to a lb.) or a 28lb. case for $94.00.
Just think.......you could have picked up some stinkys on your way home from fishin the stinky brown water 
MR |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Jason, you might want to try my dad at Piggly Wiggly in Mosinee, he's the meat manager there and has many connections and can special order many things. |
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Posts: 1769
Location: Algonquin, ILL | I have seen frozen Smelt in some of the larger Grocery Chains
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | Jason, just got off the phone with my dad and he said he should be able to get them for you. They should come in a 30# case with the heads on. He said it would be roughly $3.00-$4.00 a pound. Give him a call at 693-6700 and ask for Terry McKnight in the meat department, he's usually there till around 2:00 pm. |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Thanks guys!!! I'll check out all the options. Handy, if you are reading this, I'll try to get enough for both of us, maybe two cases???
J |
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| Reef Hawg,
I know its a long way, and the price is a premium, but D&H bait in Glyndon, MN has the nicest smelt I have ever seen. These are the big boys which look like ciscos. I paid a $1.00-$1.50 each last year but I wasn't disapointed. If you are looking for a few premium smelt check them out. phone #218-287-2203
They may ship them out?? I'm not sure.
Brett Waldera |
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| I know that I am going to sound elietest, but where better to sound that way than on a musky site! Try to make sure that the smelt you buy are not from Lake Michigan. The smelt in LM are in a serious world of hurt right now. The reasons are many fold but I don't think commercail fishing of them is helping at all.
I do not know if they commercailly fish them in Lake Superior or not, and I do not know the status of them in LS so I can not comment on them.
I have even given up my spring ritual of Friday night smelt because of this, that really hurt! In my younger days I would even eat smelt raw! I think the beer might have had something to do with it to! |
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Posts: 3518
Location: north central wisconsin | Reelman. most of the smelt I target are the jumbos and they come from Canada(hudson bay from what I've heard), or the west coast. I agree with you that the state of smelting is in dissarray on Michigan and I beleive the salmonoids have put the hurt on them as much or more than the fishermen have. There needs to be balance. I don't think I have used any smelt from lake Michigan for awhile, but would like to see the population rebound so I could take part in the fun of smelting again myself. I called a few places and found some smelt at a premium as they are being shipped from quite a distance. I'll try Piggly Wiggly again tommorrow. |
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Posts: 578
Location: Sheboygan Falls, WI | Reef Hawg,
Sorry to say that you are wrong about the Lake Michigan smelt situation, but you are wrong. The salmon are not hurting the numbers of smelt at all. There has not been a good smelt run on the Wisconsin side since the early 80's. Hell, in high school we had to get our beer, go to the river and build a fire and just drink. We put our nets in and pulled them, but very few smelt to bite the heads off of.
Alewife are the main forage of salmon and trout in Lake Michigan. Their numbers had dwindled to scary low numbers back in the early 90's. The DNR virtually stopped the commercial fishermen from catching them and their numbers bounced back very strong in a just 2 years. I believe that there are too many salmon being planted at this time though. It will be interesting to see what happens to the alewife's population now.
The size of the fish are not there anymore either. Seeing 30+ pound fish was not an abnormality, but it is now. I have 2 30+ lbers on the wall (33 1/2 and 35) taken back in 1985 and 1994. I hope that these will once again become something of a common occurrence, but they will not do that eating smelt. Anyone saying that they catch numbers of 30+ pound salmon now on Lake Michigan should have their scale checked.
Reelman, are they still doing the smelt fry at the Bil Mar in the spring?
Chuck
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| I'm not aware of the smelt fry at the Bil-Mar, I think they are hurting financialy.
NEWGLSF seems to be getting the word out to not eat smelt.
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