Milt Smelt, Chronicler of the American Huntsman

Hey smelt fans! it's been a while since we've posted here on Milt's blog. Milt is busy with other lucrative endeavors.

Found this smelt-related haiku on the Tiny Words haiku site. Enjoy!

murmuring voices
along the shoreline,
smelters' lanterns

—Charles Rossiter

About the author: Charlie Rossiter, the host of www.poetrypoetry.com, has been writing and publishing haiku and other poems for decades. His latest collection, Around the House, is just out from Pudding House Publications. His work has been featured on numerous state-wide public radio networks as well as NPR.

We'll do our best to keep up with demand for posts to smeltseason.

at http://fishing-games.blogspot.com/ . the Survivor game is pretty good!

"Cagey" . . . I get it! It only took all day, but I finally got it.

They get cagey like that, the old ones.

that Milt Smelt's blog, Old Fashioned HooknBullet Wisdom, is not long for this world. Clearly, this rumor concerns us, his biggest fans.

Milt, we implore you to save HooknBullet if you possibly can. We pledge our effort and commitment to assisting with the blog's overhaul. As the primary venue for promulgating the Word about the greatness that is Milt Smelt, we feel very strongly that any withdrawal from the blog scene could have severe and unanticipated consequences. Just think of the markets, Milt. Banks could fail, buildings topple, children could starve . . . so please, reconsider. If you want help with the blog, just ask for it. we're all in this together.

Well, I see over at the blog dedicated to the greatness that is Canadian haiku they're welcoming some fresh talent. Who the heck is this Skip Rock feller? time will tell if he's just another one of those overrated flash-in-the-pan haiku one-hit-wonders, or if he's really got the sticking power of gum under an all-night diner's table.

With any luck we'll get more details once Mr. Rock fills out more of his blogger.com profile. So far he ain't giving us much to go on.

Well, it's interesting anyway to see the spinoffs of this here great blog of ours. I'll be reading Canadian haiku regularly to see what the boys come up with.

The blogging brethren know that I dabble in and am an admirer of fine haiku, fishing-related or otherwise. Here is an utterly fine haiku from Jack Kerouac.

well it's Sunday again and the boys at the other blog have had some kind of week. I notice that the Penn State perfesser got hisself on the radio. Only one question: what the heck is rural socialogy? sounds like a barn dance or somethin'.

Over at Milt's blog there is talk of some restructuring goin' on. Keen observers of the greatness that is Milt Smelt are eager to be kept informed about the direction ol' Milt is takin' the blog. Many of us in the sporting blog world appreciate what Milt's been tryin' to do over there, but we agree (I know Frank Snappy feels this way too) that Milt's talents do indeed include the fishingcomical as well as the fishingtackle. sort of like he needs more Costello to go with his Abbot. more Shemp to go with his Moe. More yin and yang to go with his Yuengling. (what the heck was he drinking that one day? shing toe or shing tao or some such ting. Hey bub, you ever heard of Budweiser?)

Anyway, regardless of Milt's taste in beers, we stand 100% behind Milt with whatever decision he makes about the editorial content of this blog, or any other future blogs he undertakes for that matter. After all, this is a blog dedicated to the greatness that is Milt Smelt. Anything he touches is gold. well, all except fer Gordie's crap in the backyard . . . (although I bet old Milt gazes lovingly upon his puppy's poop with all the lust of King Midas in the coin room. Sometimes I do think that ol' Milt dolts on that young dogge a mite much. Now if the pup were a setter, well, it'd be a bit more understandable. but don't get me started on that!)

So all in all we're eager to see what Milt's next moves are. Milt, we just want to tell you: we love you, we're proud of you, and any direction you take that blog or yours will be the right direction indeed. You're great, we're dedicated to your greatness, and we're here to help if only to provide sycophantic cheerleading in the blog background. It's in the interst of this blog that you succeed at your mighty task.

Well, over at the "other" blog, the perfesser posted a picture of Missus Smelt last week. As I work for a living (ahem), I don't get to catch up on my blog reading until Sunday mornings. So here's the link. She's a mite purty one too, I'd say.

hmmm. rumor has it there's a Missus Smelt. dang, we didn't know that. We'd a got her a blog warming gift. Right now as we speak our crack squadrons of researchers are hunting down a photo of the missus, so stay tuned.

Rumor has it that Milt is in the market for a new flyrod. From an early morning missive from Milt:

I saw the LLBean is offering a bamboo rod again. Only 30,000 cans. I
beamed that forward to my boss, and he sent this back. I wonder whether
enough care can be made in building this rod and in securing good
Tonkin cane to make spending $400 odd on it a good chance?

Then Milt got the following link from a buddy of his, who wrote: "If you are shopping you might like these. I've not seen one, but they get good reviews and the price compares with a standard rod."

 http://www.split-bamboo.com/index-T3.html

Good to know that Milt Smelt is out there, doing the homework, pounding the . . . er, information superhighway, and keeping us all up to date on Good Old-Fashioned Hook and Bullet Wisdom. Shameless plug.

Originally Milt Smelt did his own research, but today of course he has squadrons of research assistants doing the pavement pounding for him, lucky guy. When it comes to smelt fishing, he knows everything his pal Ed Curtis taught him. Ed went on to become a name at The Library of Congress. Here's some of Ed's work:

CREATOR
Curtis, Edward S., 1868-1952.

SUMMARY
Description by Edward S. Curtis: The surf-net used in smelt-fishing is a bag suspended on two diverging poles. At the bottom of the net proper is a restricted opening into a long net-bag, which is held in the fisherman's hand. Dipping and raising his net, he allows the imprisoned smelts to fall down into the bag, where they are securely held until he has enough to justify him in going ashore to empty it.

from The Library of Congress

umm, umm, good. fire up the hot oil.

The importance that is smelt:

“This evening we were visited by Comowool the Clatsop Chief and 12 men women and children of his nation . . . The Chief and his party had brought for sail a Sea Otter skin, some hats, stergeon and a species of small fish which now begin to run, and are taken in great quantities in the Columbia R. about 40 miles above us by means of skimming or scooping nets . . . I find them best when cooked in Indian stile, which is by roasting a number of them together on a wooden spit without any previous preparation whatever. They are so fat they require no additional sauce, and I think them superior to any fish I ever taste, even more delicate and luscious than the white fish of the lakes which hae heretofore formed my standaart of excellence among the fishes.”

Photo and text from The Journals of Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (February 25, 1806).

Makes you hungry for a smelt fry.

see his article, "Winter Grouse."

Yessirree, bob. Hook and bullet in the old school.

"Fishing by the Tribes of Northern California was, and is, not restricted to the rivers. The coastal Indian people also depended a great deal on subsistence from the ocean's shores. Seaweed and surf fish were dried and stored for winter use. Smelt, a small silvery trout-like fish arrives at the ocean's beaches in the summer to spawn. They are harvested with a surf-fishing net then carefully dried for storage. First, they are air dried on logs, then placed on a bed of pebbles, which allows the air to circulate and keeps them off the sand. Depending on the weather, the process may take several days. Here, Annie Kirby poses with a bed of drying smelt for a photo taken about 1920 at Lufenholtz Beach (near Trinidad, California). The Indian People of Trinidad and Smith River, California still prepare surf fish in the traditional manner."

Milt, you should like this: a "Big Lebowski Random Quote Generator."



Stranger: Darkness warshed over the Dude--darker'n a black steer's tookus on a moonless prairie night. There was no bottom.

One of the things we happen to know about Milt Smelt is that he enjoys the work of the late Gabby Hayes. There are many Gabby Hayes web shrines on the internet. Here is one of our favorites:

http://www.gabbyhayes.org/

Also check out this sound file of Gabby's most famous lines.

One of the things we've searched long and hard for is a Gabby Hayes fishing outfit. Here is what it looks like, just in case you ever see one in an antique store or junk shop. Just the thing for some serious smelting, I'd say!

Milt, here are some words to keep in mind as you're blogging:

Words that Probably Should Not Appear in Sex Poems

vat
smelt
knickknack
windsock
meatloaf
phlegm
clamped
kale
curmudgeon
bloated
bunion

- Jessy Randall and Daniel M. Shapiro

at Red Booth Review

Jesus Gulls
.................................

The Jesus gulls walk lightly
On the water over thinning harbour ice.
They scrap and scree,
Over small and odd little bits of flesh.

The smelt shack fisherman is a drunken
Face of stubble and hand of knarling wood.
He wears fingerless gloves
Of shaking black and fading wool.

The smelt shack fisherman brings his gun
He waits for the day his vision clears,
There on the ice a crack and then
When bullet pierces pectoral muscle
Shattering fused spine and a gull implodes.
He'll cry! A great shot!
Twenty-two from forty yards.

The gulls will circle briefly and forgive
The smelt shack fisherman of all sin.
Perhaps they will eat their fallen friend
Perhaps they will leave it for the thaw.
They know this in their heart of hearts
The innocent have no mercy.

.................................
Scott Cudmore
.................................

Copyright © Scott Cudmore
April 1996

of Stratford, Prince Edward Island

Check it out: babes in wool clothes. It's enough to make you hot.