More Smelt????

I have often been asked "When is the best time to dip smelt?" and with a lifetime -50 years- of experience behind me I say "If you had to figure on one weekend to dip smelt, it would be Presidents' Day weekend. Well, yesterday while I was in Kelso I noticed that there were a lot of seagulls looking for -- and getting -- smelt around the bridges. By the time I came home the gulls were working the river all the way to Lexington. Now, there have been smelt in the Cowlitz for the past 3 weeks, but I am thinking that we are about to get a real surge in the run. I noticed this morning that there are now gulls working the river right here at Castle Rock too. Another thing that I noticed yesterday after I got home was that the game warden was driving up & down Larsen Lane! For those of you who do not know, it is presently illegal to dip smelt, as they have been listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. It will be interesting to see how this weekend develops, and if the smelt run will increase.