Smelt Fishing in Wintry Maine

Smelt fishing in the Maine winter? Maine is a state with many outdoor winter sports and activities - some well-known and others not so common. Learn how some folks pass the winter in Maine by sitting in a wooden shanty on ice and fishing for smelts. Smelts are small relatives of the salmon and are usually found in the Merrymeeting Bay area near Bath, Bowdoinham, and Brunswick, Maine. The New York Times has run a descriptive article on this unique fishing activity - "A Fishing Scene Set in Icy Maine" - (Dec 26, 2007). The Maine Department of Marine Resources has a listing of Maine's Smelt Camps that you can refer to. Other, older but relevant, news articles on smelt fishing in Maine include these by MaineToday.com called "The sense of smelt" published Feb 10, 2002; a description on how to do Smelt Fishing by inquiry.net; and "Smelt on the run" by MaineToday.com Outdoors. For more information see Ice Fishing in Maine.