The smelt takes its name not from its peculiar cucumber-like smell but from Anglo-Saxon smeolt ("bright and shining"). It is a small, slender fish with a silvery belly and an olive-green back. Fried like a doughnut in deep fat, it is a distinct delicacy. When smelts are running, they run in enormous schools, can be easily scooped up in hand nets. Last week 20,000 curious tourists were welcomed with open arms by the 15,000 natives of Escanaba, Mich, for that city's fourth annual smelt jamboree.
Each spring since 1918, when Benzie County (Mich.) Clerk...
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