On 2017-04-11 10:28 AM, U.S. Janet B. wrote:
>>
>>> Do you eat the whole fishies, head and all?
>>
>> Yes, everything
>>
>> http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/n...itebait-recipe
>>
>> Janet UK
>>
> similar to smelt I imagine. My mother would fry up a heaping platter
> of smelt. We'd get huge amounts of them when the smelt were running.
> Fishermen would go down to Lake Michigan with huge nets and haul them
> in by the bushel. Lake smelt are smaller and milder than ocean smelt
> and I prefer the lake smelt. You simply gut them and eat the rest.
> They are about the size of a husky french fry.

Those would have been fresh water smelt. When I was a kid there would be
all sorts of people dipping for smelt from bridges crossing the creeks
and rivers along the shores of Lake Ontario. I have not seen anyone
doing it for years, even though the water is much cleaner now.
To eat them you just slip a scissor blade along the belly and scoop out
the guts, toss the fish in flour and deep fry. They are quite tasty.