WESTPORT SMELT
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
by
Dick Alley
I moved to Westport in 1952, but didn't get into saltwater fishing until the late 1950s after my stint in the Army. The other day I was going through old photo's and a shot dated March of 1968 triggered a sad memory. It was the last time I remember a smelt run in the Saugatuck River.
In those early years, winters were cold and the earliest activity we could find on the river was netting Westport Smelt with scoop nets. It was something to do and the smelt were delicious. In fact, Westport smelt were known far and wide as some of the best.
Pat Fratino was Westport's Harbormaster. He was also a commercial fisherman and had a small but busy fish market on the lower level of the building bordering the river in Bridge Square just below Cribari Bridge. Pat would lobster in the summer, but he always started his season with fresh smelt from the Saugatuck River.
He caught the smelt in a huge net which he stretched across the river just north of Church of the Assumption and he pulled the net sometimes twice a day depending on the tide. What he didn't sell in his own market, he loaded into his pickup truck and drove down to sell them at the Fulton Fish Market in NYC. . Often local friends and fishermen would stop by to help haul the net and were rewarded with a few smelt for the dinner table.
1968 boasted an excellent spring run of smelt. Pat made good hauls every day. Many of the local gang had scoop nets and waded the upper tributaries leading into the river, scooping up limits of smelt to share with friends and neighbors. My favorite spot was the little brook behind what was then North Main Garage. Others found the fish in good numbers in Dead Mans Brook behind the police station and other small brackish streams.
On this particular day, I happened to stop by as the guys were making their first pull of the net. I remember Mike and Pat Cofelice were there. So was Joe Saviano.
The bulge in the net as they drew it towards shore made it obvious that the net was packed with fish. As the fish came out of the water, guys on shore transferred them into bushel baskets and loaded the fish-filled containers onto the back of Pat's truck.
Everyone helping took home as many fish as they wanted and Pat headed for the market. I later heard that he brought the price down to 10 cents a pound that day. The following day, the net came in empty and the day after that and for several days thereafter. To my knowledge, Westport never saw a smelt run again.
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