Camping: Recap

On Saturday night I was the happiest boy in the Catskills. What I considered to be the smoothest, speckliest, sweetest brook trout on the famed Beaverkill river jumped onto my little caddisfly imitation and gave himself over to me. I shouted "dinner!" and Willie was already making a fire next to the bridge.

I felt sad for the fish because I really cared about him and I felt like he would probably have a pretty nice life where he was living. It was a secluded spot, nobody there to bother him, lots of rocks to get shelter from the current and bugs to eat and all. But I also feel like seeing where your formerly living food comes from is a rare treat and should be savored and appreciated. I gutted him next to the river and I cut his head off and rinsed him off so he was nice and smooth and clean cut. Then I pulled some long grasses from the riverside and wet them in the really very cold river water and tucked him in my bag covered with the grasses to keep him cold.

I kept on fishing for awhile and caught some of his smaller kin. Brook trout of all sizes are rewarding to catch because they have the most intricately cool patterns stamped on them. Their coloring is really dramatic. It's cool to me that something that looks like it was designed purely for beauty can be so functional as a camouflage. Bill "Big Willie" Bradley has some pictures of the fish and I'll try to post them at a later date. I also noticed that its flesh changed from, when I first opened it, a kind of deep translucent orange, on the darker side like towards maroon, to the more pinkish lighter orange you see in salmon flesh. Thought it was cool to see.

We cooked him over the fire then. I left the tail on and opened him up and splashed some olive oil and salt and pepper and some lemon juice on him and wrapped him in foil. Then I put him directly on the fire. Not more than four minutes, i don't think. I took him off and checked him out and he looked just perfect - skin still a marvel to look at. I pulled the spine out carefully and almost all of the little bones came out cleanly. Then Willie and I ate with our hands. Like I said, this made me the happiest.

All I needed was some dessert. Maybe Lillie will tell about her famous campfire cobblers and crisps?...