Fishing is Foraging, Too

I often talk about wild edibles, plants that grow wild in field and forest that can be eaten. Foraging need not, however, be limited to vegetarian fare. Even for those who don't hunt, fishing can be a plentiful source of nutritious food.

I prefer to fish the clear, contaminant-free brooks and streams that run down from the mountains here in New England. Their sources are high above any old mills, factories or storm drainage systems so the water is clean and pure as it self-aerates by splashing down over little waterfalls and endless rocky cascades.

These streams ore often home to brook trout, a small but tasty fish that is easy to clean and easy to cook. Brook trout fishing is a more active sport than some other types of fishing because you have to move along the stream searching for the small pools where the fish tend to hide. Although I enjoy all types of fishing, brook trout fishing is one of my favorites.

I was just given a regular fishing column for Yahoo! Sports where my first fishing article, about Brook Trout Fishing, was published yesterday. You can read it at here. I'm mentioning it here, because I think fishing is an often overlooked part of the self-sufficiency equation. For the low cost of an annual state fishing license, you can easily catch enough fish to supply your family for a year.