Gone Fishin'

Now before any of you say anything about lazy students indulging themselves on days out in the countryside at the taxpayer's expense, let me make clear that there was an educational purpose behind my recent day out from college at Blackwool Farm Trout Fishery. That purpose is so eloquently expressed by Hugh Fearnley–Whittingstall when he talks about the importance of developing your culinary ethic by taking personal responsibility for the food you eat.

To quote from HF-W: "the killing of other creatures, however big or small, sophisticated or simple, is not something to take lightly. But I’m also convinced that the question of whether such forms of hunting are morally acceptable is linked very closely with whether the animal killed has an end use as food." In The Road To River Cottage, Hugh talks about rejecting processed, sanitised supermarket food and getting in touch with real, raw food. And that, of course, was the purpose of our excursion the other week. At least that's my line... and I'm sticking to it.

I must admit our college trip wasn't exactly wild salmon fishing on the River Tay. Just an hour-or-so minibus ride down the A3 for some fly fishing near Guildford, in the stockbroker commuter belt. But the principle was the same and the day was very enjoyable. Click on the last slide to read the story behind my fantastic catch.