Fishing in Western Canada
Offers a wealth of tips and techniques for catching all the major species of Western Canada
Where is the best place to fish for rainbow trout?
What is the secret to catching the elusive whitefish?
And how do you clean your fish after you've caught it?
These questions and more are answered with wit and wisdom in this indispensable guide to the fish-filled rivers and lakes of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Fishing in Western Canada offers a wealth of tips and techniques for catching all the major species of Western Canada, from the prized brown trout to the monster pike to the beautiful arctic grayling. It tells you how to master the delicate and demanding art of fly-fishing, where the prime fishing spots are, how to get there and when to go. It also gives you instructions for canning, smoking and preserving your catch, and presents a variety of delectable recipes.
Spiced with the author's own experience and love of fishing, Fishing in Western Canada exuberantly conveys the magic of angling and is an essential companion for beginner and master angler alike.
This is Carpenter's account of life in Saskatchewan, an ecstatic salute to the seasons. It begins in the gloom of November and ends around Thanksgiving the following year. Carpenter likes to think of this book as an example of "creative documentary". It allows him to remain true to the facts of life around home, but (if the occasion demands) to exaggerate the size of his fish.
Sample Recipe
Carp's Stuffed Megatrout
(note: does not work for big lake trout)
1 large trout (2 kg/4 lb. or better, gutted with head on)
7 oz./200g butter
1 small stalk celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 lb./500 g mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup/250 mL dried bread crumbs (whole wheat)
1/2 tsp/2 mL pepper
1 tsp/5 mL powdered sage
Divide butter into two dollops. Put the first dollop into a small fry pan for later use. Put the second dollop into a big fry pan and sautè onions and celery. Add all the mushrooms after onions and celery begin to sautè. After two or more minutes, add bread crumbs, pepper and sage, and stir it all up. Take pan off burner, and when ingredients have cooled a bit, you can begin to stuff your megatrout.
It needs to be gutted, cleaned out, and dried, with head left on. Remember that other dollop of butter in the little pan? Should be melted by now. Brush both sides of the fish with butter, then lay it down on the aluminum foil. Spoon in stuffing, but don't stuff too tightly. If there is any stuffing left over, simply spoon this in along the opened belly of the fish to be included inside the foil. If there is any butter left, pour it along the exposed side of the stuffed fish before you wrap it up in foil.
If your trout is lean, bake for 45 minutes at 180°C (350°F) and check to see if it's done. You do this by sinking a pointed knife into the fish's spine where the meat is thickest (usually behind the gill cover). If your megatrout is fat, however, brush on less butter and give it an hour or more at 180°C (350°F). Don't forget those trout cheeks behind the gill covers.
Your megatrout serves many guests. A wonderful occasion for bragging.