THE SMELTS 
353 
2. Lake Michigan, 5 miles south of Frankfort, Mich., and 1^ miles out in the 
lake. A specimen was taken in a gill net by commericial fishermen, who report that 
the smelt is abundant in Lake Michigan, off Frankfort. 
3. Howe Lake and Trout Lake, Marquette County, Mich. Dr. Walter Koelz 
made a trip into this region from August 23 to September 2 and caught smelt in 
both of these lakes. They were 1 to 4 years old, which indicates that they are estab- 
lished in these lakes. Howe Lake has no outlet, but Trout Lake drains through 
Pine Lake to Lake Superior. The presence of smelt is accounted for by the egg 
plantings of 1912 and 1918. 
4. Lake Michigan at Northport, Leelanau County, Mich. Dr. Koelz interpreted 
a description of a strange fish caught by fishermen of this region as that of a smelt. 
Creaser states that the foregoing constitutes the knowledge of the distribution 
of smelt in the upper waters of the Great Lakes. He says that fine mesh gill nets, 
which caught smelts at Crystal Lake, failed to take them in Torch Lake, Antrim 
County, which was planted at the same time that Crystal Lake received eggs. 
As previously mentioned, the most marked results of these attempts at acclima- 
tization of the smelt in this region appears to be in Crystal Lake. Creaser decided 
from age determination made from their scales that the smelts of April 17, 1923, 
were the product of natural spawning in the spring of 1919, 1920, and 1921. He 
states that large breeding runs in and about Beulah have occurred every spring since 
1919. Many 2-year-old fishes were taken April 6, 1925, which were hatched in the 
1923 run. 
Creaser says that smelt are very abundant in Crystal, Howe, and Trout Lakes* 
and at Crystal Lake they are caught at all seasons of the year with hook and line, 
most frequently, however, in the winter through the ice by the perch fishermen. In 
the winter of 1924 they reported that one-half of their catch was smelt. 
He writes that the Michigan State Department of Conservation, through Mr. 
Craw, tried to catch all the smelt that came into Cold Creek at Beulah during the 
spawning run of 1925, but for what reason is not stated. Each person was allowed 
20 pounds. The game warden kept an account of the number of men at work, as 
nearly as possible under the circumstances. From those data, on the basis of an 
average of six smelts to a pound and the prevailing price of whitefish, it is estimated 
that in seven days 16,000 pounds, or 96,000 individuals, valued at $5,600, were caught. 
It is quite evident, therefore, that the smelt has become completely established in 
Crystal Lake, as Creaser says. 
A letter from Carl L. Hubbs, University of Michigan, dated April 26, 1924, says: 
“ Just recently we have received a smelt from Green Bay, across Lake Michigan from 
Crystal Lake. It is evident that the species is spreading in the Great Lakes region.” 
In a letter to the United States Commissioner of Fisheries, dated March 27, 1909, 
E. E. Race, then superintendent of the Green Lake station, referred to an experiment 
that had been undertaken for the purpose of determining how long smelt eggs could 
be kept alive in transportation. Mr. Race wrote: 
March 17th, in compliance with instructions we packed about 15,000 as taken from the troughs 
in bunches, and a few that were separated, in a common shipping case with ice hopper. These have 
been examined several times, and ice added when needed. There are eight trays in the stack, and 
