Bethel smells like fried smelt. The small fish started swimming past the town this week during their annual run up the Kuskokwim River. Hundreds of people flocked to the seawall with dip nets to fill their buckets and get a taste of fresh fish. KYUK joined them at the river front.
Annual Smelt Run Hits Bethel
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The first smelt came through Bethel on May 23, 2018, followed by thousands of others, filling the nets and bellies of fishermen and women along the seawall. Every spring, smelt flood the Kuskokwim River for a two day run.
Katie Basile / KYUK
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Tiffany Beaver dips her net for smelts along the Bethel Seawall on May 23, 2018.
Katie Basile / KYUK
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Irene Beaver and her granddaughter Benni examine their smelt catch along the Bethel Seawall on May 23, 2018.
Katie Basile / KYUK
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Joshua Albrite dips for smelts with his son, Adam, and mother Rita Albrite along the Bethel Seawall on May 23, 2018.
Katie Basile / KYUK
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Anna David checks the smelts she left hanging to dry at her home in Bethel on May 23, 2018.
Katie Basile / KYUK
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Smelts hang to dry in the late evening sunlight at the home of Anna David on May 23, 2018.
Katie Basile / KYUK
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Jacob Berry carries two buckets of smelts up from the seawall.
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Crystal Kashatok pulls smelts from a dip net along the seawall in Bethel on May 23, 2018.
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Crystal Kashatok has a knack for pulling in smelt with her dip net. Here, she fishes along the seawall in Bethel on May 23, 2018.
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The first smelt came through Bethel on May 23, 2018, followed by thousands of others, filling the nets and bellies of fishermen and women along the seawall. Every spring, smelt flood the Kuskokwim River for a two day run.
