Eating Trout

I have this thing about trout.

I love to eat them when I'm in the backcountry.

There isn't anything real complex or philosophical about it (like returning a piece of the living earth back to my soul, etc.). I simply love the taste of trout.

I grew up eating fish. My dad fed our family with steelhead and salmon caught in the rivers of western Washington when I was a kid, and his love of fishing - and cooking fish - sort of rubbed off on me.

Now, don't get me wrong. I release a lot of fish, and I'm a big advocate of catch and release trout fishing. If I wasn't, I might get kicked out of Southwest Montana. Catch and release is like religion here.

But when I'm trekking, I like to eat fish.

I poach'em, steam'em, bake'em, fry'em, and now, with the 0.9 oz Zia Titanium Grill, I grill'em.

This 11.9 inch cutthroat was caught on a Syl Nemes' Soft Hackle Gray Drake spinner, then grilled on the banks of the South Fork Flathead River in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. We coated it with spicy breadcrumbs, drizzled olive oil on it, and let 'er rip over a little fire - and WOW - yeah, it was real good.

Photo: Ryan Jordan. Sigma DP2 f/2.8 1/5 sec.

Comments

[Daniel @ Tenkara USA]

Nice Shot.

We like eating trout too....Catch and release is good if done properly, but the hypocrisy that comes with releasing a fish just to got to the nearest market and buy another one is not the goal.
Check out the cooking part of our forum:
http://tenkarausa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=77&sid=d0f88aafb70a4f2a4cea836a971518a0

[Hendrik M]

Great shot, and the fish sounds delicious. Here in Finland/ Scandinavia Catch and Release isn't really practiced, people usually eat what they catch. Though we got many lakes and rivers, so even if every Finn would start fishing I believe we wouldn't be able to get them empty (I myself practice Catch & Release, and only take what I plan to eat).