Rockin’ the Shore Lunch 1

Back when I was a full time river guide here in Washington one of my favorite fisheries was the Skagit River catch and release season for wild steelhead. The season was set up for March and April when the majority of those big bruisers were headed upstream and man-o-man do I have some memories from those beautiful spring days targetting America's hardest fighting freshwater gamefish.

In the early days all the scenery and all the fish in the world couldn't get people to book a trip, however, because they couldn't bonk one over the head and bring it home for supper. Catch and release steelhead fishing was a whole new dealio in this state at that time and people just couldn't grasp the thought of letting one of these awesome fish loose after landing it.

Flyfisherman had been releasing them for years, but getting a gear guy to let one go was like pulling teeth. I needed a plan.

I contacted a few of the big name guides at that time and ran my dillemma by them. One of them, whom I'm still friends with today, mentioned that he would sometimes pull over mid-day and whip up a quick bbq'd shore lunch for his guests. They loved it, of course, and always came back. That was it…a shore lunch!

I cooked all sorts of stuff on the river in those days, including chicken, steak, venison, shish-ka-bobs, and salmon. Any hot meal on the river bank was a big hit, but the salmon always got the most compliments. Salmon with a potatoe side dish and perhaps a bbq'd vegetable or some roll's…dangit that was some good stuff.

I got the cooking program so dialed in that I could have the food on the bbq in less than five minutes and have the goodies cooking while we fished our way down the river. Before long I was booked solid each and every season. I'd like to think those awesome shore lunches had a lil' something to do with it. 

I've been retired from the river guiding gig for a few years now and out of all of the days I've spent on the river it's those spring days I miss the most. So, when my good buddy Ray Gombiski sent me a text the other day to say he was in a funk and needed to get out on the water I knew a shore lunch was in order. 

This is one of the easiest shore lunches to prepare and nothing beats it on a drizzly fall day here in Washington. 

The night before the trip I cut up a mess of red potatoes and onions and place them in a baking dish. Add some cracked pepper, sea salt, and rosemary to taste and then drizzle olive oil over the whole works. Place it in the oven at 425 degrees and stir the potatoes every 15 minutes or so until they are thoroughly cooked. It usually takes about 45 minutes to get the job done. Wrap up enough potatoes in tin foil for lunch on the river and eat the rest for dinner.

Place a bunch of asparagus stalks in a Zip Loc bag and hit them with olive oil, cracked pepper, and sea salt.

Thaw out your salmon and keep it in the vacuum pack bag for the next day and pack either Tillamook butter or olive oil for the fish. One of my favorite commercially produced rubs is Tom Douglas's salmon rub and if you can't find it concoct your own rub using my Smokey Sweet Salmon Rub recipe found over on my Prince of Wales Sportfishing website.

Here's everything you need for this shore lunch: 

Rosemary Red Potatoes

Asparagus 

Salmon Fillet

Olive Oil or Tillamook Butter

Salmon Rub

Tin Foil

Plastic Forks

Paper Plates 

CHEAP BBQ

Propane

BBQ Lighter 

Newcastle Brown Ale

After the bbq is lit place the salmon in some tin foil and either drizzle olive oil over it or place a few chunks of Tillamook butter on it. Sprinkle your favorite rub on the fish and then place the potatoes and asparagus on the grill. Seal that baby up and check it in about ten minutes, or so. The salmon should be pulled off when it's medium rare, which is just about the same time the potatoes are warm and the greens are cooked. 

Place your grub on a cheapo paper plate and feel good about making comments like "I wonder what the poor folks are doing" as you scarf down every last scrap with your sophisticated plastic cutlery.

I whipped up this shore lunch for Ray and my next door neighbor Mike the other day and it topped off a perfectly awesome day on the river. Ray got out of his funk and I got to day dream about April's on the Skagit River.  

Rob Endsley
The Outdoor Line
710 ESPN Seattle
www.theoutdoorline.com