Several dippers were taking more than their fair share of smelt Saturday, some collecting more than 100 pounds of fish, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department Sgt. Bob Weaver said Sunday.

Because no bait or hooks are used for smelt fishing, the tiny fish are caught by scooping them up with one of several types of nets. The most popular net, a gill net, is made of nylon thread.

when they said they could dip fish out of the water with their bare hands. Turnout among fishermen was good enough to ensure Bob’s sold all its smelt nets and nearly sold out of the poles they ...

The fish spread and in 1928 the first smelt were reported caught in gill nets near Little Sturgeon Bay in Door County, according to "Fishes of Wisconsin" by George C. Becker. By 1930, the fish ...

(AP) - Dalton Fry cast a finely meshed net into ... time of year, smelt larvae and adults are coursing through lower Columbia watershed. The run apparently lasts longer and the fish are swimming ...

"Catching smelt is just a totally different way of fishing," Winfield said. No one brings a rod or reel because the fish are too tiny. Generations of anglers have used a simple dip net, scraping ...

Bowdoinham’s Ice and Smelt Fishing Festival is a winter tradition, drawing tourists eager to fish and explore the town. However, the past two events lacked its key attraction: actual smelt fishing.

is available on the Cowlitz River smelt fishing webpage. A current Washington fishing license is required to dip-net for smelt. A Washington combination, freshwater, or temporary license is valid.

"Anyone who was harvesting smelt was required to have a fishing license and were not to exceed 10 pounds of fish," the Sheriff's Office posted on X. "Overharvesting has serious consequences.