I love good food and have been known to spend hours in the kitchen knocking up sashimi platters, deserts and, at times, quite extravagant meals. I smoke fish, ribs and meat in a Hark smoker. I’ve got a vegetable and herb garden full of in-season treats. I love to knock up buttermilk blueberry pancakes for breakfast and extravagant meat and cheese platters for lunch. I’m always thinking about my next meal and what we can plan for dinner each night.
For someone who loves food and spends a lot of time cooking and eating, you’d think I’d have boat and fishing meals sorted pretty well wouldn’t you. Well I don’t. Our fishing trips involve quite a bit of effort in getting the boat and tackle sorted, usually the day before, but food is often a last minute thought that morning. We might take sandwiches on the odd occasion if my daughter feels inclined to make them while we pack the boat. Maybe some fruit and bottles of water. My stable fishing food for many years has been a big packet of Twisties and a 2 litre bottle of water. As you can see my foodie addiction goes out the window when it comes to fishing.
To be honest, food isn’t a big deal when I’m fishing. We very rarely anchor up and fish bait or do any style of fishing that involves sitting around waiting for a bite. Most of our fishing these days is casting lures, squid jigs or flies at various species and that doesn’t really give you much of a chance to lay out a spread of food or even eat a sandwich. We fish a lot of different locations and travel time between them is usually spent rigging or changing lures or tidying things up. They are pretty full on days with a lot of time spent searching or polaroiding for signs of activity and fishing hard. We very rarely stop at lunch time and set aside half an hour or fifteen minutes to have a lunch break. That’s where packets of chips and bottles of water come in handy. I can grab a handful or chips or Twisties while I’m casting or driving the boat without having to stop fishing.
If my wife tags along for the day then lunch is a priority. Christine refuses to spend the day on the water with a packet of chips. She’ll usually make a concerted effort to buy some fresh bread rolls and ham then take small containers of salad and cheese along to make them for a formal lunch break. She’ll even take salt and pepper and some biscuits or cookies along. Cans of soft drink are also included and I must say it is nice to actually take a break while out on the water and regroup over a fresh ham and salad roll and a Coke. I’m just usually too busy or lazy to organise that when I fish alone or with a mate. I’m more prone to taking the old packet of Twisties, a muesli bar and a bottle of water. If I have time or the inclination I may grab a quick bowl of WeetBix, cereal or a slice of toast and a coffee for breakfast before I leave. With a bit of breakfast in my belly, I can go all day on a packet of Twisties.
I must admit that I have enjoyed the odd good meal out on the water while fishing. Guides usually take nice lunches like fresh rolls, wraps or chicken salads. That’s part of the package and usually goes down very well. I’ve fished Christmas Island a few times in the past half a dozen years and you make your own lunch after breakfast. It’s all laid out on a big table and you can make your own sandwiches and grab whatever fruit and drinks you feel like. That’s very quick and easy and you can eat while travelling between flats. Just be sure to slip the odd banana in your mate’s lunch box for good luck…
I’ve also enjoyed some very nice lunches while gamefishing over the years. Cheese and meat platters, fresh sandwiches, hot sausage rolls, maybe a cold beer, hot coffee, cake and even sashimi on the way home with freshly caught yellowfin or kingfish. I have to give it to the old gamefishermen – they know how to enjoy the day. I can remember some very memorable days and meals on the 40 foot Caribbean, Dad’s Boat with the Murphy family out of Greenwell Point over the years.
All of this brings me to our latest solution to fishing food. In between my house and Urangan boat harbour is a bakery called Top of the Bay. Probably the best pies and sausage rolls in Hervey Bay. They open at 5:00 AM with freshly baked goodies. We simply pull up out front with the boat on the back and buy some pies, sausage rolls, cakes and iced coffees. Takes about five minutes. We then eat them at the ramp watching the sun rise or in the boat as we travel to our first destination. We only have to take bottled water or a few cans of soft drink to stay hydrated during the day. I’m not sure if that’s just lazy, clever or extravagant. Maybe it’s all three but it works a treat and is a very simple solution to fishing food.
