Ice fishing for smelt with hand lines. Lake Champlain - Port Henry , NY - 2003 #lunkerville #icefishing | Lunkerville

SMELT RUN ON THE COWLITZ: Crowds turned out to dip their nets in the Cowlitz River at Castle Rock on Thursday morning in pursuit of smelt. It's often a once-annual opportunity to take home the tiny fish. Eulachon, commonly known as Columbia River smelt, have been listed as a threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 2010 due to a sharp decline in returns that began in the 1990s. To ensure a sustainable harvest, fishery managers monitor the fish population each year. Read mor