Nick Fisher - Sea Fishing: River Cottage Handbook No.6

To my own Fisher-family crew, Helen, Rory, Rex, Patrick, Kitty and our dog Spike, without whom there would be no point to my fishing or cooking

Bloomsbury Publishing

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This electronic edition published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

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First published in Great Britain 2010

Text 2010 by Nick Fisher

Photography 2010 by Paul Quagliana

Recipe photography 2010 by Gavin Kingcome

except the following: John Wright. Cover image Ed Pavelin/Alamy

Illustrations 2010 by Toby Atkins

Nick Fisher has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

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For legal purposes the and photography credits constitute an extension of this copyright page.

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication data has been applied for.

ISBN: 978-1-4088-0183-3 (HB)
ISBN: 978-1-4088-9636-5 (eBook)

Project editor: Janet Illsley

Designer: willwebb.co.uk

The publishers would also like to thank Sam Carlisle for his assistance.

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this book, in no circumstances can the publisher or the author accept any legal responsibility or liability for any loss or damage (including damage to property and/or personal injury) arising from any error in or omission from the information contained in this book, or from the failure of the reader to properly and accurately follow any instructions contained in the book. The recipes supplied in the book are for personal use only. No recipe may be used for commercial purposes without the express permission of the author.

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Contents

Ive been bewitched by the sea for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of paddling around in rock pools, bottom in the air and eyes fixed firmly on the salty puddle in front of my nose, marvelling at blood-red sea anemones and pulling up tiny crabs or shrimp in my neon-yellow nylon net. Forty years on, and Im at it again, ostensibly tutoring my own brood in the fine art of rock-pool fishing, but in reality just as thrilled and beguiled as I was then, and they are now.

Catching my first fish is a moment firmly etched on my memory too, though my pride is tinged with mild embarrassment. I was five. My dad, taking pity on my lack of success, covertly placed a very dead mackerel on the end of my hook. I was fifteen before the scam was revealed. I should have realised long before then that Richmond Park is not one of the worlds great sea-fishing destinations. My first real catch was a 2lb perch I landed on Lough Corrib in Ireland. Mum cooked it. I ate it. It was delicious. From that point on I was as firmly hooked as that perch.

Since then, what was a passion has become a near obsession. I seize every chance to go out fishing on my little boat, Louisa. Even when thats not possible, fishing is never far from my mind. I sort my tackle on winter evenings in front of the fire, browse fishing catalogues and even, when I can get away with it, watch fishing programmes on the telly. Thats how I first found out about the author of this book. Stuck on dry land, I discovered Channel 4s Screaming Reels, presented by one Nick Fisher. Fishy name, fishy guy. And, I was delighted to find, presenter of the best fishing programme ever made.

Nicks approach was about as far away from a damp day on a river bank as you can get. He was wild, irreverent, slightly dangerous, funny. I decided to stalk him, to reel him in with a view to collaborating on some fishy telly. We met. We fished together. He caught a small roach and I caught, er, nothing. The telly didnt quite happen. Id like to say we enjoyed our fishing too much to let work get in the way, but since meeting more than ten years ago, we have at least managed to write The River Cottage Fish Book together. Its a sizeable tome, which did require us to spend rather too much time at our desks. But it also allowed us a fair bit of time on the water earnestly researching our subject, of course.

Nicks first fishing memory is, characteristically, rather more swashbuckling than mine. There he was, at the end of a rock pier in Millport on the Ayrshire coast, dipping his toy rod into the sea, surrounded by fishermen with years of experience, buckets of succulent bait, bags of expensive equipment. A tug on the line. A wrasse on the end of it. As the tiny kid struggled to land it, the adults swarmed around him, offering to help. But Nick was having none of it. He insisted on landing it himself.

Weve come a long way from bent-pin hooks and plastic rods these days. As our wives are only too quick to point out, we both have far too much tackle cluttering up the house. And were never short of an excuse to acquire more. Yet in our heart of hearts we know its unnecessary. That what really marks us down as fishermen is not the extent of our kit, but the fact that we still get that same sense of anticipation when we get our tackle together, and the same surge of excitement when we feel a fish tugging on the end of the line, as we did with our first-ever fish.

Now that youve picked up this book, well soon be counting you as one of us. Even if youve never fished before, dont be anxious about your beginner status or your lack of experience. We often fish with beginners who catch more than us on their very first time out. As Nick emphasises from the outset, you really dont have to spend much on tackle to get great pleasure, and great results, from your sea fishing. One well-chosen rod-and-reel combo will see you through a multitude of shoreline scenarios. And an hour or two with this book will put you in with a shout of a memorable catch on your first-ever outing.

Whether youre a beginner or an old-timer, theres no one better than Nick to take you fishing even if it is a virtual fishing trip taken from the comfort of your favourite armchair. Nick is the one to communicate the vital philosophy that every fishing day is a good day, whatever the outcome. His enthusiasm, knowledge and passion shine from these pages. And the message, above all, is that fishing is not an exclusive pastime, far from it. Its the most convivial way to spend time with old friends, or indeed make new ones. When pursued solo, its inspiring and contemplative, the perfect antidote to the mayhem of modern life. It is also one of the most fun family days out you can imagine.