Smelt season in Chicago opens Tuesday with hopes as empty as a holey net

Smelt season in Chicago opens Tuesday with hopes as empty as a holey net

I almost feel guilty for mentioning that the netting season for rainbow smelt in Chicago opens next Tuesday, as usual on April 1.What was once a memorable night experience up and down the lakefront for generations — with a community history and buckets of the small, oily, invasive fish — has virtually disappeared. A small core group of hardcore netters keeps the tradition alive on the shores of Lake Michigan, despite the lake rarely even deliver…