(Portland, OR) -- Grab your dipnet and head for the Sandy River Thursday afternoon. The smelt are running. Smelt are small fish that spend most of their life in the ocean and migrate in the Sandy River, and other tributaries of the Columbia River, to spawn. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved dip netting from Noon until 7 p.m. on Thursday. Each dipper can collect ten pounds of smelt. Dippers also need a 2025 Oregon fishing license. Smelt can be fried or smoked.