Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Trout for a tenner?
Shooting Times lays down the gauntlet for Will Martin — catch, cook and eat a wild brown trout in one day. For £10. Bring it on, he says
Countrymen are generally the sort to love a challenge. Whether it be a right-and-left on woodcock, the Macnab or the Mcdougal, country sports, whatever the aim, are a challenge — you never truly know what you are going to see or hear or whether you are going to get that shot. Never is this more prevalent than when fishing or shooting wild game.
As I sat at my desk, a newly tied parachute Adams tightly held in my vice, my only thought was how on earth a fish could refuse such a delicate thing, its displacement mimicking a number of potential trouty suppers. As my mind was lost in daydreams of trout, my phone rang. It was the Editor of Shooting Times calling. the first thing he said was: “Are you up for a challenge?” “of course!” I replied, almost too fervently. “hang on, what is it?” I asked, rapidly trying to back-pedal.
I was to have one day to catch, kill and cook a truly wild brown trout and it was all to be done for a tenner.
I began searching in earnest for where this brown trout could be caught. All around the country there are options to fish for wild fish. the trent rivers trust allows wild fishing from £9. the Wye & usk Foundation has opened new fisheries that you could only dream of. In my mind, however, there was only one place where I wanted to fish this challenge: Dartmoor. Clear, deep rivers and streams languidly moving through the heather and granite before tumbling through gorges and deep boulder-strewn chasms filled with life. Perfect.
Moorland rivers
through its passport scheme, the Westcountry rivers trust administers the Duchy of Cornwall’s stunning 25km of beautiful moorland rivers. All the beats have their own distinct charm but all offer the chance of catching strikingly beautiful fish in this strikingly beautiful place. I telephoned Dave Chapman from the trust and, after explaining the challenge I had been set, he suggested the Cherrybrook.
next i had to work out how i was going to cook this trout. a strict
“no open fire or barbecue” rule on Dartmoor is in operation and, save for a frying pan and a camping stove, i was struggling. that was until Jo hampson of Smoky Jo’s, having been put in touch with me by Shooting Times, sent me an email about the possibility of hot smoking my trout (see recipe, p.26).
While living in Scotland i would smoke mackerel and pollack on a large tin smoker, but i always saw this as a job to do at home, not by a river bank. Jo convinced me that this did not have to be the case and that there were smokers that could be used on a camping stove and fit in a backpack. We were on to something. She put me in touch with Clive husselbury from Cookequip and within two days i had a smoker and some apple woodchips. now all i needed was the fish.
So a few days later on a warm, sunny Saturday, i made my way from London to Devon. During a quick stop in moretonhampstead to pick up necessities such as pasties and a penknife — you always forget something fishing — i received another call from the editor asking whether i had remembered my backup fish for lunch in case i didn’t catch one. he of little faith. of course i was going to catch one. i had slipped a couple of rainbow trout fillets from the freezer into my bag though.
i picked up my fishing permit for a tenner from Postbridge post office and drove down to the lower Cherrybrook Bridge, where i parked up. having waved my parents and dogs off on their walk, i went down to the river below. a small brook rod was all that was needed; i was to use my favourite rod, a little 7ft 3wt Lureflash. it only cost £50, but i have had it for years and on a small stream would feel lost without it.
With arch tor towering behind me, my plan of attack was simple. having studied the fishing map, i would walk down to the junction where the Cherrybrook joins the West Dart and fish the West Dart upstream before returning to the junction pool and fishing the Cherrybrook back to the bridge where i would cook my victory fish for my parents.
“All beats have their distinct charm but all offer the chance to catch this strikingly beautiful fish”
The Dartmoor moonscape
i walked down the river scanning the water for signs of movement, looking for the riffles below pools where trout might be holding and assessing each glide, searching for the rising fish. it was difficult, however, not to get distracted by the beautiful moonscape that is Dartmoor; the greens and browns punctuated by the bright yellows of the gorse and the grey granite.