Seasoned flour -> egg wash -> panko/cornmeal mix -> peanut oil, or, even better, LARD, pan fried. hit with salt and lemon juice immediately after it comes out of the oil.

Yep start with seasoned flour....

BeenThereDoneThat.

You got some lucky neighbors buddy!!!!  Did ya ever try Ginger Ale or Coke in place of beer?
BTDT no never tried anything but beer might try that though...

Pike , I like those smelts too! Got to have the cocktail sauce for dipping for me. I like to add a little more horsey sauce in the dip.
 
I prefer the seasoned cornmeal recipes over batters . Some batters I've had are just too greasy for some reason. All good eating recipes !
 
BTDT , looks awful good there ! 

I have to agree Brock, the beer batters to greasy for me also. Haven't dipped smelts in decades. But did it on the NUT ,with my dad,uncle and grandpap as a.young boy. I took my son about 20 years ago on  Sandusky river and fished all night off some docks and caught over 1200 one night. Nothing quite like a fresh smelt,lightly dusted in seasoned flour and dipped in cocktail sauce and
hot sauce,and your favorite beer. What happened to the smelts? I use to get them in the bay ice fishing,you could see them right under the ice. I could pull 2 or 3 at a time. I guess I caught to many.lol Never dipped them on the Niagara river but hear they have good runs.

Well there's one fish I can't say I BTDT as far as catching but, I BTDT when comes to eating my fair share (than some)!!
 
Been many, along with a lot, of years since I have enjoyed a good batch of Smelt and  I sure do remember, the great "Smelt Fries" when I pigged out at the RVFD in Reno, PA.  The recipe was one of those "we'll have to kill ya if, we told you deals" so I have no idea of what was used but, back in the day, those boys could fry em up along with french fries, OHHH Baby!!

when I was a kid we always got into smelt here and there fishing off the piers and sand docks.  I've had my boat 8 seasons now and only got into a school of them once while perching about 3 years ago.  When I go to Giant Eagle or Erie Co. Farms (are they even open anymore?), I always pick up a bag or 2.  Just make sure they're the Lake Ontario smelt and not an ocean fish from South America.  BeenThereDoneThat, they're voracious little feeders.  You'll know when you're into a school of them, your lines getting hit and your baits disappearing.  That's why I always carry smaller hooks in case I have to switch up to get 'em.

Never caught em but sure can remember when I was a kid, my neighbors bringing a bucket of them back from Erie.  They'd slit em, wash em, and freeze em.  Something then about eating a fish with fins, tails, ribs and, back bones still intact just didn't seem appetizing.  Ummm, did I mention scales too?   But boy oh boy..... a few (++) years later, a couple (+++) Rolling Rock appetizers and I was looking forward to the next smelt fry.
 
I appreciate the heads-up on Giant Eagle and the Lake Ontario fish, who the hell knows what you get when ya buy fish from other parts of the world.  If it is in fact fish.

I catch them with no problem now ! At our local grocery store D'Onofrio's Food Center. Already cleaned and breaded, and froze in sealed bags. LOL....About 4.00 a pound and they are good.
 
Fred , I was up on the Niagara one Spring and a couple local guys were getting ready to go down and net some that night. They told me you need three guys to work it right. One netting in the water or close to it , one holding the light and ready to hand the net to, and one bucket man. They were short a guy and told me if I wanted to they would split the share with me. I thought he said 8 quart containers per man was the limit for a day....not sure. Anyway he said they come and go throughout the night....nothing for an hour then, Smelts everywhere ! I didn't go, had fishing priorities first. Wish I did check it out. They have a Smelt Festival up there I believe too.

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuk...........   don't this just make ya hungry for Smelt????
 
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