Des and the graylinjg

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Ron Clay

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In this weeks Angling Times, Des Taylor writes of the great pleasure to be had by getting out into the wilderness, catching a few fish, and then eating them.

I have done this many times in my life from the little streams of the Scottish Islands, to the loughs of Ireland, right over to the highlands of Kwazulu Natal. There is something extremely satisfying about going out and catching your own supper. The instinct goes back to the days when man was a hunter-gatherer and is one of the prime reasons why we go fishing.

Look, I am not saying that we should go out to catch Two Tone or a big barbel from the Trent and put them on the barbie,

Rather that we should occasionally eat a fish or two. Taken in moderation, waters containing lots of such species such as perch, grayling, wild brown trout, eels, small pike and zander would not be affected if we had the odd one to eat.

The best eating fish in UK fresh waters are zander, perch, eels, trout and small pike, in that order.

And in my life I have eaten the lot.
 
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Eric Hayes

Guest
Ron if I want dead fish I go down the Fish Market. But I do understand where both you and Des are coming from and agree that Fishing and hunting is an in built thing, but killing them ain`t my bag and I get more enjoyment from seeing them swim away.
Having said that I do kill and eat Some of the Rainbows I catch when fishing a local stocked res (At ?12.00 a day with a bag limit of 2 fish who wouldn't ?) but I'm not to keen on banging them on the head because the way I see it I'm ultimately depriving them of an existence.
 
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Jason Lennon

Guest
I never eat what I catch. But if I was ever desperate, and needed to I would.
As the most likely eating species I would catch on the tees is the eel(no zander in the Tees and couldnt bring myself to kill perch or pike anyway) how would you cook em?
Dont even know if I could eat an eel, I would feel really guilty about it.
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
Now this is rather strange. I put back 99.9% of what I catch and have always done so.

However I grew up fishing under the wings of Tag Barnes, **** Walker and Fred J Taylor. Although these anglers were the leaders in fish conservation, They had no compunction on odd occasions in eating the odd fish, especially if that fish is good to eat.

At times in our angling lives we hook a fish badly. And we all do it make no mistake. In such situations is is surely best to make use of that fish knowing if you did return it it would die a slow death.

I get very annoyed when I see anglers carefully returning fish, yet when they hook an eel, they behave like butchers and chuck the poor thing back bleeding and in disgust.

I have seen good sized eels thrown up the bank dead on many waters. I have seen good sized pike in the same condition.

Eels especially, are very good eating indeed - one of the best in fact. I have eaten many eels in my life, they are very good for you.

The way some anglers behave towards eels is digusting and wasteful in the extreme.
 
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Matt Brown

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I caught and ate a Brown Trout from the Wharfe at the back end of last season and I still feel really guilty. I'll never do that again.
 
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Shrek

Guest
So on the one hand you are saying that it's fine to catch and eat the fish of our rivers, then on the other hand, if you are an illegal immigrant for example, it's disgraceful and a public outcry if you catch and eat the fish of our rivers !!!!

Hypocrite !!
 
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alan outen

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whats the difference between eating fresh water fish and salt water fish. the occasional one wont hurt. its when pepole start being greedy that i think is wrong
 
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Chris Hammond

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I don't do it myself, unfortunately I'm not a big fan of fish as a meal, however I've got no problem with those that do, in fact I sometimes envy them! It seems like the most natural thing in the world to me.

Besides, in my opinion, a ban on the right for people to eat their catch would constitute the biggest single danger to the longevity of angling as a sport that is concievably possible.

Regards Chris
 
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stuart palfrey

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I can see no problem at all taking the odd fish for the table so long as they are eaten not wasted.I shoot and apart from rats and crows only shoot it if i can sell.give away or eat myself.Des must have been in heaven well done to him.
 
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john conway

Guest
I don?t have a problem with eating fish, I?ve got a few trout in the freezer at the moment. The main reason for not eating more is our lass hates fish, so it?s a meal for me when she?s not in. I suppose I?m also a bit lazy, it?s too easy to get it from ASDA. All fish are edible and unless the fishery concerned states in it?s rules that coarse fish should be returned, then you can legally eat what you catch as most people did before the war or ASDA. Believe it or not fish, all fish, are actually good for you especially eels.
 
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albert watkinson

Guest
i used to wade the upper severn at llanidloes {i had a newsagents business there] .i have eaten plenty grayling from the river there.i always took one for my supper and put the rest back unharmed.i did not see anything wrong with this and cooked nicely i prefer them to trout.
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
Good for you Albert.

The amount of grayling eaten by pike for example makes the odd one you take, totally insignificant.

Why should pike have all the pleasures?

Many of the Yorkshire rivers allow you 2 per day, and that's enough for me.
 
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Tony O'dell

Guest
Agree with you there Ron.....cant see the issue with taking a fish for the table now and again.
What do Grayling taste like by the way?...i am assuming they are similar in taste to trout......
 
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Ron Clay

Guest
Actually they have rather a unique taste. Many people love them and some hate them.

Parsley and Thyme is a good decription.

The best thing the do if you kill a grayling, or an other fish for the table is to get its guts and gills out immediately, and the blood line down its backbone. You can leave the head on of course, but once a fish is dead, the stomach contents start to de-compose, and if left there, will taint the flesh.

Then cook it as soon as you can after catching it. And don't over cook it fror goodness sake.
 
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Chris Hammond

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Ron,

As I said earlier I'm not a huge fan of fish, however I do enjoy it occasionally. I've taken a few sea fish home for the table in the past. One of the nicest ones I've tried were Dabs. Shallow fried with a squeeze of lemon, very tasty!

I can remember a chapter from a Fred J book in which he describes he and Richard Walker cooking up the 'feast of Gudgeons' on the banks of Redmire when the provisions had gotten low. Fred J describes, in the same book, seeing a Gudgeeon of an estimated pound or more in the margin at Redmire too.

I also tried an East coast Sole once, I wasn't over keen but at least my friends could see me in the dark for months!

Regards Chris
 
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Ron Clay

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Some time ago a friend of mine asked me what I thought was the best tasting fish in the world.

That was a difficult one, but honestly I would say the African "Butter Barbel" of Zimbabwe to be the best I have ever tasted. It's a type of small catfish.

Second to that would be the Kingklip, that firm white fleshed deep sea fish that looks as ugly as sin and is taken in the South Atlantic of Namibia and South Africa.

Third, without doubt is the zander!!

Best tasting shellfish - South African Rock Lobster, or Crayfish as they tend to get called there.
 
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