Why I think Smelt Fishing is better during a cold snap:
The Temperature out there in the ol’ Atlantic off the coast of Maine right now is somewhere around 40-42 degrees Fahrenheit near the coastline.
The Temperature out there in the ol’ Atlantic off the coast of Maine right now is somewhere around 40-42 degrees Fahrenheit near the coastline.
A good cold snap cools the shallower brackish waters up in
the rivers inland to temps lower than that out there in the bay by quite a bit.
River temps raise or lower more quickly than that whole big ocean.
There are schools of Smelts out there in the Atlantic full
of eggs and sperm looking for a river to spawn in, it’s why they come up the
river.
A cruising school out in the bay would easily notice a
temperature drop of even just 1 degree.
I think the fish are out there cruising around, feel a cold
water flow and tend to follow it up to find the river spawning eddies. I
personally think this MAY be why some of our best catches have been on some of
the coldest fishing nights of the season.
The night I talk about the most where we brought in as many
as 3,000 smelt was in a snap that was about -20 degrees.
I personally think that cold water flowing into the ocean is
like a glaring red flag to the smelts to turn inland toward the river.
(I may be wrong…this is just my own contemplations)
We are heading up to try things
out Thursday 1/24, we have shack #7 from 12:30-7:30pm. I will post some
results on our facebook page. The projected temp for the evening is -7 degrees.
If you head up to try it, stop by and say hello, hopefully our buckets with be shining with smelts.
If you head up to try it, stop by and say hello, hopefully our buckets with be shining with smelts.
