Scale Them? But That Will Take All Day

Fishing is a fun activity to do as a group. Whenbefore and had spent the entire day trying to
the smelt are running in Lake Superior, it becomesscale them. Smelt are not scaled.
a sort of party for young and old alike. Night timeSmelt are usually put in a batter and deep fried.
is when the best smelting is and families will packSome people cook them with tomato sauce. I like
a lunch, the children, family dog and dip nets tothem either way, but I do not care for them
invade the North Shore of the big lake in searchafter they have been frozen. So I figured out
of those little tasty morsels. Some years it wouldhow to make them taste a lot like a sardine in
only take a few hours to capture tubs full oftomato sauce. I pack them in quart canning jars
smelt. Every scoop of the dip net would beand process them 90-minutes at 10-pounds in the
almost full. Other years were not so productive.pressure cooker. I can fit 28-32 whole smelt per
My first experience with smelt was a long timejar after they are cleaned. I leave the tails on and
ago, but I still remember that poor neighbor ladyremove the head and inside with just 2 quick cuts
trying to clean smelt. We had been smelting allof the scissors.
night and had quite a lot of fish. When we gotI just pack the fish, add 1-teaspoon canning salt,
home my mother and her friend divided the catch2-tablespoons tomato sauce, 2-tablespoons oil and
in half and the neighbor lady went home. That2-tablespoons vinegar to each jar. The vinegar
evening we were waiting for her to come oversoftens the bones and they taste like sardines in
for a smelt fry. Finally someone went to seetomato sauce. They are a tasty treat in mid
what was keeping her. She was crying and stillwinter. Eat them right out of the jar or heat
cleaning fish. She had never dealt with smeltthem in a casserole dish.