We've said it many times before, just about all of us at River Cottage love fish and fishing and there's nothing quite like catching it yourself and then taking it home and cooking it. Perhaps the only thing that can beat that is cooking your catch in a special way right then and there!
Well we've discovered the perfect way of doing that. A fishing bag full of lots of fishing goodies including a telescopic rod, a crayfish net and a portable fish smoker!
The fishing bag or satchel has been locally handmade by our friend Rosie and has a wide shoulder strap, making it easy to carry that heavy load of fish. It has a fold over flap that secures with two metallic poppers and a handstiched picture of a mackerel on the flap.
The crayfish net is cleverly designed with a zip pocket to put bait in, a zip to stow the securing line and clips to hold it flat for ease of storage in the bag. When in use the net measures about 500mm long and has apertures measuring 80mm diameter at each end to let the crayfish in.
You need a licence to set a crayfish trap, for more information
click here.
The Spinning Rod we use is a 9 foot telescopic Red Wolf with a casting weight of 30g and comes complete with a Tempest 340 fishing reel and includes fishing line.
The reel has 3 ball bearings and has high speed retrieve, a precision multi drag system, an oversized anti-twist line roller and comes with a spare graphite spool.
The rod comes with protector for the rod eyes and whilst under 2ft collapsed extends to 9ft.
Last but not least the fascinating fish smoker. This folds into a manageable tin which is also part of the smoker itself. It comes complete with a pot to hold your combustable material, a griddle tray and handle. We've even thrown in a 1kg bag of oak sawdust!
The smoker of course comes complete with instructions and we'll include a River Cottage recipe for smoked mackerel.
The internal dimensions of the smoker are 30cm long x 18.5cm wide x 6cm deep
