THE GAME FAIR 2010

We’re thinking Game Fair. It’s a new venue this year, and they are promising easy access. Dates are 23 to 25 July. The place is Ragley Hall, Alcester, in Warwickshire. Web: www.gamefair.co.uk e-mail: gamefair@cla.org.uk

TRAVEL

DESTINATIONS AND HOLIDAY TRAVEL SHOW - 2010

Earls Court, London

Victor Bonett, the man from Malta. Hunters in Malta are having problems with the European bureaucracy – could lose their right to hunt. Victor can be contacted on: victorbonett@visitmalta.com

Captain Kent Haina, airplane pilot, who flew out of Chicago for eighteen years, now boss of Poi Boy Fishing and Wilderness lodge in Alaska – where all the giant salt-water fish come from. See www.poiboyfishing.com

Don Twiddy passes out his super fudge. Man does not live by travel alone – he, and she, needs some fudge. Dan makes it himself, has been doing it for 25 years. www.fudgekitchen.co.uk

ADVENTURE TRAVEL LIVE - 2010

Royal Horticultural Halls, London

These folks at the Adventure Travel Live show will take you fishing: www.fishingholidays.travel

RECIPE: THE WHATYOUGOT FISH STEW

Have we got a good recipe for you!

The Whatyougot Fish Stew, which Nedra and I have developed, has many virtues. As the name implies, you use what you have got. Of course you need to start off with fish, and hopefully you have some of that. It can be a big fish, or a little one, though obviously big is better; there might be some problems if you have just the fourteen ouncer you caught last week, instead of the five pounder you anticipated catching, and you are preparing dinner for ten.

You also have to have some edible bits and pieces around your place, so you can use “whatyougot.” If your cupboard is bare, you’re in real trouble, and there needs to be some constructive thoughts. We used a batch of left-over potatoes, a can of red beans, some fresh tomatoes (no longer too fresh), plenty of onions, mushrooms, and some other ingredients I no longer remember. If some ingredients take longer to cook, put them in first. If you are an experienced cook, such admonitions are unnecessary, but this recipe is meant to include the inexperienced fisherperson, who may never have cooked anything in his or her life, and wants to jump in with both feet to turn out something that is really nice. It is also meant to encourage the eating of your catch, which is exactly what your catch is meant for (ignore the self-righteous who think they are saving the planet and the fish stocks – trout are not an endangered species – and come to think about it, neither are carp, as well as all of the other so-called “coarse fish” – if you happen to be one of those individuals who pursues these species.)

You might be a seasoned cook who makes a huge amount to serve at a banquet, or one who puts it up in empty milk cartons for use over a period of time. Or you may be totally inexperienced, and this is the person Nedra and I were thinking about specifically. It’s a one-pot recipe, and that is another advantage. You (almost) can’t go wrong.

Skin and bone your fish, including the little side bones. Cut the fish into bite-size portions. Add seasoning to taste, which should include a goodly amount of fresh garlic, and/or garlic powder, but not so much that any one knows it’s there, particularly those who say they hate garlic.

You can cook on top of the cooker or in the oven. Be sure to add enough liquid to prevent burning. Further, we were thinking that our guidance here can be particularly useful to the unattached young fisherman who encounters a girl whom he would like to impress with his prowess as a fish-getter, and as an able cook. So he invites her around for this special dinner - this has the advantage of her already being there, as opposed to him trying to get her there. (It’s true, that she might have preferred being taken out to dinner, and didn’t want to wind up “there,” in any event. And she isn’t impressed by the invitation to sample home-done cuisine by a dubious chef. In which case, remember that there are a lot of young women in the world who would be delighted, and flattered, by such an engaging invitation.) In fact, as an expression of intimacy, the two people could eat from the (same) pot, particularly if there were a shortage of crockery. The young fisherman should note the enthusiasm with which his creation is greeted, and if there is ready acceptance to another such invitation.

Give us back Barn Elms

Waterlife Magazine is an extremely well-done quarterly magazine that goes to members of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. The January/March 2010 issue reports a three million pound legacy from a lady in Scotland who enjoyed watching birds. I got to talking with the Waterlife Magazine chap and asked if they were the ones who had taken over the urban Barn Elms in London, where a lot of us used to fish. He pleaded guilty, though I failed to detect any signs of remorse. There were four reservoirs there, and it was a nice place to fish. In our campaign to compel Thames Water Authority to stock the newly-created Queen Mother Reservoir, our enthusiasm spilt over to such an extent that TWA also agreed to re-create some of the Barn Elms waters as a trout entity. Now suddenly they were snatched away. There were four separate waters; why couldn’t they have left us one?

As fisherpersons, we docilely accepted this take-over, and went our separate ways, with never a word of protest to be heard, no fight for something that was precious to all of us. Recently, along with my fishing licence I received an invitation to join the Angling Trust, and no doubt you did as well, which claims to represent all fisherpersons. In which case, let’s ask them to reclaim one of the Barn Elms waters for fly-fishing persons. I intend to be in touch with them, but I am not fired with optimism. Why not give them a call – on 0844 770 0616 – admin@anglingtrust.net and tell them you want them to take up the fight to get Barn Elms back.

© Sidney Du Broff 2010