ErnieW
Trail Wise!
I want to backpack
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Post by ErnieW on Jan 12, 2021 18:20:24 GMT -8
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Post by plaidman on Jan 13, 2021 13:10:37 GMT -8
I have a question for you guys who cook fish in foil packs: what do you do with the used foil? Seems like a serious bear magnet. I did three trips last year, but no fires were allowed. I took fly fishing gear on two of them. For cooking, I tried seasoning with salt, pepper, dill and lemon garlic powder then poaching them in a little pot over the jet boil stove with rocks in the bottom to keep the trout above the boiling water. It wasn't as messy as carrying oil, but the flavor was disappointing. It also takes more fuel than just boiling water for freeze dried stuff. So, after a lifetime of fishing and backpacking, I still haven't figured out a decent way to cook without a campfire, a grate or frying pan, butter and/or oil.
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
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Post by TrailElder on Jan 17, 2021 6:09:16 GMT -8
Also the backyard practicing has been going well. When it is relatively still I have taken to aiming to land the fly on a leaf as target and getting pretty good. When there is wind it is an interesting exercise. I come from a background of disc ("Frisbee") sports so the flying / judging wind part is actually interesting. A buddy of mine's motto is "The wind is your ally". Not sure if most Tenkara fishers feel the same. Sounds like it's coming along great! Yes, wind. I've not been a lover of wind all my life, and more so when I'm fishing. But it's a factor to deal with, often, so making it work for you is definitely the trick. I've found, even here in windy Colorado, I'm usually able to make it work. On those days when it's blasting in my face, I just pack it in. What's the point???
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TrailElder
Trail Wise!
Something will have gone out of us as a people if we ever let the remaining wilderness be destroyed
Posts: 507
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Post by TrailElder on Jan 17, 2021 6:12:32 GMT -8
I have a question for you guys who cook fish in foil packs: what do you do with the used foil? For sure it's a bear and critter magnet. When I do it, I just put the old foil in a baggie (sometimes an odor-free bag, but I don't think that makes much difference), and put it in my trash bag and into my bear bag. I don't usually travel in high-risk bear areas. If I were, I would not cook fish.
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Jan 17, 2021 7:12:10 GMT -8
I rarely keep fish, but in the few cases that I have done so, in the Sierra, I have cooked them in a pan, rather than in foil. The lid of one of my cookpots serves reasonably well as a fry pan...at least for a few minutes to cook trout.
Back in the day, we would make a fire and cook the fish suspended over the fire on alder branches, skewered. But we don't make fires any more, and I don't really keep fish any more...
And backpacking is different now.
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 17, 2021 9:38:25 GMT -8
I love the Sierra, but among the many reasons I’ve chosen to live in Montana is we’re right behind California in landmass, but essentially tied with Rhode Island for population - CA having 40 million people, MT having 1 million. That really changes things in the backcountry. Fires here in “most” places are fine. Plenty of deadfall to cook trout over. I’m just not a catch and release fisherman...
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Post by bluefish on Jan 17, 2021 10:24:23 GMT -8
jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com/cookware/pots-pans/8-inch-fluxring-fry-panI don't have a Jetboil, but I have this pan. The flux ring distributes the heat and it doesn't weigh that much. Worked great for frying up stunted brookies (I target waters that need culling if I plan on eating fish- I'm not judging, just what I do) both in the east and west. Pretty non-stick, but I carry a small plastic container of olive oil and some spices. Pan fried trout are the best. I bring a lemon and some garlic cloves, too.
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 17, 2021 11:05:58 GMT -8
Pan fried trout are the best. I bring a lemon and some garlic cloves, too. I've done them over fire, in the pan, and in foil on coals. I prefer in foil over coals. Sometimes I'll find wild onions and add them to the packages. Here in grizzly country I just don't like the mess/stink pan frying makes. A good fire destroys all the stinky mess.
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Post by plaidman on Jan 17, 2021 11:26:09 GMT -8
We've probably more than 40 million stunted brookies that need eating in California, but it's tough without a fire. I have a little titanium frying pan but it took forever (and a lot of fuel) to cook a couple of sectioned 10 inch brookies. I'm afraid of running out of fuel, so I wasn't happy frying in the Jet Boil, even though I carried an extra can just for cooking trout. I'm turning my sights towards more remote places outside of CA now, though, so maybe cooking over a fire will become a regular thing for me again.
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Post by trinity on Jan 17, 2021 11:29:46 GMT -8
Here is a thread I started years ago about cooking fish, with some good information, particularly from markskor .
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balzaccom
Trail Wise!
Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Jan 17, 2021 11:50:45 GMT -8
I love the Sierra, but among the many reasons I’ve chosen to live in Montana is we’re right behind California in landmass, but essentially tied with Rhode Island for population - CA having 40 million people, MT having 1 million. That really changes things in the backcountry. Fires here in “most” places are fine. Plenty of deadfall to cook trout over. I’m just not a catch and release fisherman... I don't avoid fires because I don't want to cook fish. I avoid fires because I want to be part of the solution---and I don't want to cook forests! It's the fire potential that's the issue.
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Post by bradmacmt on Jan 17, 2021 12:05:57 GMT -8
I don't avoid fires because I don't want to cook fish. I avoid fires because I want to be part of the solution---and I don't want to cook forests! It's the fire potential that's the issue. I’ve never found it a problem to control a small fire where/when its legal.
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Post by johntpenca on Jan 17, 2021 12:41:11 GMT -8
I have a little titanium frying pan but it took forever (and a lot of fuel) to cook a couple of sectioned 10 inch brookies. A 10" sierra brookie is hardly stunted. Why did it take forever? Two to four minutes per side should be enough. I love the Sierra, but among the many reasons I’ve chosen to live in Montana My short year in Montana made me appreciate it's grandeur. The drive along the 94 is beautiful, as are the back roads. Unfortunately the influx of wealthy folks from CA, CO, WA, TX and other areas have driven real estate pricing out the roof.
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Post by plaidman on Jan 17, 2021 17:01:51 GMT -8
Agree 10 inches is not exactly stunted. Halves happened to fill up the frying pan. Less than 6 iinches more trouble than it's worth. I don't know why they took so long to cook. This was at Garnet Lake around 10,000' msl. (There are some really nice fish in there--way to big for my little pan.) I used foil to cover the pan, but just couldn't get it very hot. I must have cooked those fish for ten minutes . They were ok, but I was left with a slimy mess added to the trash bag to carry out to Tuolumne meadows.
The burner on the Jet Boil is pretty small. Maybe that was the problem. My son carries a Primus burner that's around 3 inches in diameter. That should do better for cooking.
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Post by johntpenca on Jan 18, 2021 11:07:43 GMT -8
The burner on the Jet Boil is pretty small. Yes. If I plan to cook fish or do other meals that require a fry pan I carry a larger burner stove. Titanium is light but does not distribute heat evenly.
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