Smelt
Fish
A small, slender, silvery fish with a translucent, almost see-through body and a noticeably large mouth for its size, often said to smell faintly of cucumber when freshly caught.
Facts
- The faint cucumber-like smell when fresh is a genuine, well-documented identification trait.
- Forms shoals in estuaries and river mouths, particularly in cooler months.
- A small but genuinely good-eating fish, though rarely targeted deliberately by UK shore anglers.
UK fishing rules
No statutory UK-wide recreational size or bag limit currently applies to smelt.
Where to catch Smelt (1 mark)
| Mark | Region | Season | Method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brightlingsea (Bateman's Tower) | East | Variable | Bait fished, regular by-catch here |