When I lived in Minnesota it was common to don breast waders and team up with several guys to get into the ice water and drag minnow nets along the Great Lakes' shorelines. The nets would sometimes get so heavy that that we struggled to get them in. We'd dump the smelt into garbage cans, haul them home and distribute them.
Pappymn, are guys still doing that?
Marcia's parents were Norwegian immigrants. FIL could clean them with scissors in less time than it takes to tell about it. I think that MIL sometimes used a safety pin or maybe it was a bobby pin. I don't quite remember, I was usually testing the beer.
We supplied many American Legion and Elks Club smelt fries.
