• Smelt dipping events are quite popular on the West and East Coasts
The Pacific Smelt, also known as Eulachon is a small silver fish that migrates for spawning from the ocean to freshwater between late winter and early spring.
The northern coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean see the greatest population of smelt along the West Coast. The Alaskan Coast, the mouth of Nushagak River, Pribilof Islands (Bering Sea), and the Klamath River (Northern California) are prime hot spots for smelt. The tributaries of the Columbia River carry the greatest number of smelt into Oregon and Washington states.
It is still widely unknown exactly how the smelt find its way and why the population of such migrating spawning fish varies so greatly among various freshwater rivers. The smelt travel around 20 miles (32 km) upstream to reach its intended spawning site.
The reason why smelt is so popular fish extends to its nutritional value as well as its previously widespread availability. Smelt is rich in protein and unsaturated fatty acids (omega 3 and 6). It contains a high amount of vitamins A and B along with potassium, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and phosphorus.
Moreover, with the growing concerns of fish absorbing toxic substances, the smelt is still considered relatively less likely to be contaminated by hazardous substances such as mercury.
The smelt dipping is actually quite simple; it does not require a fishing rod. You need a dip net gear. Recreational fishing is allowed from the river banks only. Due to the decreasing population of the fish, however, the fishing departments of Washington (WDFW) and Oregon (ODFW) have set up certain guidelines and rules that can be found on their websites.
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Brief History
Dating back to 1806, the journals maintained by Captain Lewis and William Clark contain recollections of the various tributaries of the Columbia River, and the river itself being flooded with smelt ready to spawn. The claims have been corroborated by old residents of the area.
Due to the heavy population of smelt, the activity of fishing smelt was an important recreational activity which would often turn into a social event. The period from the 1930’s to the 1950’s, the the 'catch of the smelt’ event became an annual social gathering tradition.
Endangered Smelt
From 1980 to the 1990, the population of smelt and other spawning fish including salmon declined rapidly. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), between the years of 1945 and 2009, the population of smelt has reduced drastically from about 62 million to a mere 200,000, which classifies smelt as an endangered species. Following this startling discovery, the governments of Oregon and Washington banned fishing for smelt in 2010.
While the exact reasons for this decreases are unknown, scientists attribute it to such factors as water temperature changing, dam building, pollution, unregulated fishing, predator vs. prey relationship changing, and stream channel narrowing.
Furthermore, the primary food of smelt is oceanic plankton, the numbers of which have been also rapidly declined. In addition, predators like sea lions and seals to escape starvation by moving to the bountiful Columbia River to feast on smelt and salmon runs.
By to 2014, the smelt population gradually began to increase. In 2014 and 2015, the state of Washington opened smelt dipping along the Cowlitz River for the first two Saturdays in February, as the beginning and end of the fishing season. Similarly, the State of Oregon set the two days as the first two Saturdays in March along the Sandy River. The scheduled timings were 6 am to 12 noon with a maximum catch of 10 pounds per person. In 2016, smelt dipping was allowed for just one day.
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