As most of you will recall, we had a nice discussion about backyard barbeques. That bit of history reminds me of an adventure I had many years back. Now I must admit I have embellished the story a bit with some fiction to make sure all was well connected in its message. I was in my early stages of becoming a fisherman.

 

My friend, who must remain anonymous or my life would be in danger for telling this partial tall tale, thought it would be nice to hike into one of the local high lakes and catch a passel of brook trout. We could taste them a sizzling in butter over a camp fire. We started out driving to 6000 feet and had a two mile hike from the end of the road. As I recall the mosquitoes were the size of vultures and ate as much. There were bogs where they would practice their dining ability on any poor creature that passed by them.

 

There were a few shady areas that still had snow and ice on the road and this did cause quite a problem. The truck hit a slippery side of the road. My freshly poured cup of coffee spilled on certain areas of my body causing me to yell and lose control of the steering wheel which in turn caused my companion to yell at the Almighty to help him live another day, please! You know I was really surprised at how fast he made the sign of the cross as he ejected himself a good fifty feet from the rig. He landed head first into a snow bank and stopped even faster when his head hit the stump that was hidden by the snow. You have really got to laugh when you think of a guy that as he flew into that snow bank looked like a turkey buzzard with a beautiful head landing that would have probably scored at the least a perfect 10, if they had such an event in the winter Olympics.

 

I really didn’t have time to laugh because I was too busy keeping the truck on at least two wheels and hoping I had a change of shorts in the truck. I finally came to rest, high centered on a snow bank about four feet off of the ground and the good news was we landed precisely at our fishing lake. That really was quite a ride. You see not only had we slid a long distance, but we were able to avoid using the truck as a raft. Well, two hours, one pair of shorts and rescuing my buddy later we prepared to fish.

 

In those formative years I was not only young but also broke, so I could only afford a pair of cheep rubber waders with an elastic top. As we started down towards the lake I noticed the trail was a bit slick and soft. You have got to picture the following happening from my friend who was maybe twenty-five yards behind me. He said that at one moment he saw me walking and the next minute all he sees are the last few inches of a six foot fishing rod and no Vince in sight. All he could find was a floating hat. Then suddenly a big rotund bobber flying out of the water that was topped by my hat. I looked like a drowned walrus, with my handlebar mustache disguised as a fisherman. He said that I looked like the creature that ate Cleveland, as if any self respecting creature would take a bite out of that great city.

 

What happened was that what I thought was ground was really floating turf and bog grass. Did I mention that the water was so cold that I spoke in a high pitched voice for two weeks? You know I still have those waders on a shelf in my den because they saved my life. The elastic top filled them like a balloon with air or there probably would be no Chef Vince. I bet you think the story is over , but remember I still had to get back home. We did not give in to the cold. We continued to fish, caught our fish limits and slid on the hub caps from the old truck all the way down the mountain. Two hundred bucks later we had the truck towed out of the snow bank and would never forget our trip on hub caps down the old road. That story is for a later date. Recalling this one was enough of a nightmare to share.

 

The following recipe is a great way to make a dinner or take as a snack while fishing. I call it Salmon Croquettes.

 

What you need...

• One pound salmon boned out and cooked or one pint canned salmon

• Two eggs - beaten

• Fifteen soda crackers

- salted or unsalted - crushed

• One teaspoon ground black pepper

• One teaspoon parsley

• One small onion chopped fine

• One Quarter cup chopped celery

• Salt to taste if needed

• Canola oil to fry the croquettes

• Fresh lemon wedges

- sliced and placed around the plate

What you do...

Mix all the ingredients well except for the canola oil. Form the mixture into small croquettes (salmon balls ), about one inch in diameter. Heat the canola oil in a fry pan and cook until golden brown. Serve with cocktail sauce or eat as is when done cooking. I take these on fishing trips in a zip lock bag as a cold snack.

 

Until next month remember to only----”Keep what you need and leave the rest for seed.” “Don’t forget to take a kid fishing.”

 

Wildlife Chef Vince