Cleaning smelts

In my opinion, it's best to do it right away while they're still fresh. I don't like the innards blending in with the meat when you leave them intact for a while.

Yeah.. I failed to mention this but now I just figured out why my smelts were curling up few seconds after hitting the pan. didn't know because they were fresh... will clean them right away as I've always done with every other fish I've caught.