Staring into the abyss of smelt netting in Chicago

Despite the near-record mild winter, water temperatures on Lake Michigan off Chicago surprisingly are holding in that 39- to 41-degree range — near the prime of 42 for rainbow smelt to be near shore.

That’s about the only good news smelt netters will receive. Netting season for smelt, a storied tradition in Chicago, opens Monday, as usual. But expect the same amount of the small delicacy, which means none to few.

Well, if you read carefully, there’s a sliver of hope from Ralph Tingley III, a fisheries biologist with the USGS Great Lakes Science Center.

‘‘Density estimates of large smelt (>3.5 inches) are still very low in Lake Michigan,’’ Tingley emailed. ‘‘Both of our yearly surveys, which include a lakewide bottom trawl and a hydroacoustic survey, suggest densities are close to historic lows.

‘‘The hydroacoustic survey did indicate there was some recruitment of rainbow smelt in 2023, with a few high catches of these new recruits in the southern basin outside of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. However, in recent years, these sorts of recruitment events haven’t resulted in substantially higher large smelt estimates from either survey in the following seasons.’’

Smelt are part of a wider collapse of prey fish on Lake Michigan because of decades of impact from invasive zebra and quagga mussels. So I asked Tingley whether there were any signs of improvement in prey fish.

‘‘While rainbow smelt remain relatively sparse, both surveys did indicate some increase in adult alewife in Lake Michigan from 2022 to 2023,’’ Tingley emailed. ‘‘This is probably the result of a strong 2021 year-class, and the 2023 year-class appears to be relatively strong, as well.’’

Chicago Park District regulations remain the same: Nets may go in at 7 p.m., netters must be out of the parks by 1 a.m., no open fires, no closed tents, no parking on grass or sidewalks.

Fishing committee

Park Bait’s Stacey Greene-Fenlon will take over chairing the Chicago Fishing Advisory Committee.

Mayor Richard M. Daley founded the committee and generally had someone from the office of special events chair it, as did Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Mayor Lori Lightfoot never did anything with the committee, so the Chicago Park District took over chairing it. That continued under Mayor Brandon Johnson until last week, when the park district’s Carl Vizzone stepped down as chair.

Meetings will continue to be held at the 31st Street Harbor community room, per Chicago Harbors.

Greene-Fenlon said the next meeting will be at 10 a.m. on the usual third Monday of the month (April 18), but she hopes to explore options for occasional evening meetings.

Illinois hunting

The first youth spring turkey-hunting season is this weekend.

Wild things
I had a tom wild turkey gobbling at me before dawn Saturday, convinced that my slamming the car door was an invitation to a dalliance. . . . Tom Schrader reported the first eaglet of the year Sunday at the nests he surveys regularly in the far western suburbs.

Stray cast
Refereeing in March Madness is more random than the slipperiness of rocks when hopping across a mountain stream.