City - Chicago IL - Those who smelt it 1920
by Mike Savad
Title
City - Chicago IL - Those who smelt it 1920
Artist
Mike Savad
Medium
Photograph - Colorized Photo
Description
Colorized photo from 1920
Original Title: The fishing pier
Photographer: Detroit Publishing
Location: Chicago, IL
I'm pretty sure they are smelt fishing. Smelt are small silvery fish, that travel in packs and are said to taste very good. Often replacing a hotdog, maybe due to shape. For years Chicagoans have gathered in early April by the lakeshore since the early 1930's. Their hope is to catch a lot of fish.
Smelt is an invasive fish that seemed to have escaped the great lakes in the early 1920's. By the 1930's it became a tradition to come out and gather them up. It's not hard to fish for them, you don't need anything special, just a net, and luck.
It's a bit confusing why these people are fishing in the morning (there is a small clock in the background). Because today you smelt fish from 7pm to 1am, people will use lanterns to light the fish up under the water. It's said that its very pretty. Currently there are less fish, as of the last 20-30 years their numbers of gone down. But maybe in the past there were so many, they could catch them any time? Or maybe they are catching something else.
You can see a number of net variations. A long pole with a net called a seine, is for those with strong arms and don't mind chancing falling into the cold water. There is a boom on the left that seems to swing over to a bucket, they set out a track for it to roll on. And on the right, I have no idea how those work.
Uploaded
February 21st, 2020
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