I've gone smelt dipping a number of times. Seems like a good idea at the time to catch a couple of trash cans full of smelt but not such a good idea when you spend an entire day cleaning them. The great lake smelt population has crashed so not a lot of dipping goes on anymore. They also imposed a 2 gallon limit. We have some deep, cold trout lakes that have smelt in them and guys will catch them through the ice on rod and reel. I've done that a few times and it's a blast if you get on an active school.