Show washington DIGEST Com pleat angler gets new pleats if he learns how to prepare fish by BAUKHAGE news analyst and commentator washington today one of the politicians biggest worries is the housewife and HER worries the biggest of which is meeting her budget and the increased appetites lich ich we worked up during the war we were able to satisfy C m then because we had our pockets full of money our pockets arent so full now but our stomachs are weve been educated up to eating a lot more meat particularly but a large part of the country has not been educated up to eating fish fish is good to eat it is also good to catch and before I 1 get into its nutritive value since I 1 have you where you cant get away im going to tell you about my recent fishing adventure which inspired this column and about some of the fish that get away f from rom me what did I 1 catch well first class bass bass good stout trout some call them weakfish b u t baukhage they arent meek 3 fish sheephead pigfish look snook snappers and porgy mexican bull fish not a t tough ough pu pull fish whitefish blue fish jewfish jew fish other tried and true fish hark a nasty little shark heres an old trouper of course its a grouper just a little argin then ill claim a sturgeon never caught a whale fish but what about a sail fish I 1 could go on indefinitely sitting back here in the city dreaming with scales over my eyes where about all the people know of piscatorial matters is confined to the use of a mickey fin I 1 recently had 48 hours on the bounding main and in the cuts as they call the peaceful mangrove bordered crane and pelican peopled indentations of Flo indian river there the waters are almost stiff with fish as an irish friend once said to me of his home river river and I 1 am disposed to talk about the joys of angling it was suggested to me by my editorial assistant that I 1 approach the subject from the political angle however as a hook and line and sometimes a rod and reel amateur I 1 might say that we deal in lines and also curves when you consider that piece of lacquered bamboo from burma when a big one takes it and goes but angles are not in the vocabulary of anglers 3 remember an ancient motto im 1 I 1 d upon a circular pad fre placed beneath a beverage glass to preserve the tables patina which said follow the straight line of duty it if you do the curved line of beauty will ever follow you there is nothing more beautiful than that arc of rod and line with the exploding flash of white water at its terminus where a vibrant captive shakes the hook there is no sound more pregnant with hope and enthusiasm than the scream of the reel when it pays out to match its power against a game and finny fighter now having gotten that rhapsody out of my system what about the practical side this is still lent and a lot of people eat more fish during this season than they would 0 04 11 aise zise so fish prices have gone li down tt ae but not too far and they are down as compared to last year for these trout I 1 was talking about the speckled variety not the weakfish which officially are gray trout we got 25 cents a pound down in florida speckled trout is selling rt kt this writing tor for 40 cents in the new york market and bluefish large at 40 to 45 cents per pound wholesale of course A lot of sea bass and trout and porgies have been coming in from Nor norfolk folli lately and please let me digress one me luo ment to tell ell you about potomac striped bass in maryland you have to throw them back if they are over 18 pounds and in virginia waters if they are over 25 pounds and this is for fishermen we have a record of a 42 pound bass caught in our northern waters also bill turner take n otice notice started a new stunt off of montauk point new york where they run out just beyond the breakers in fast little boats and catch these big ones A lot are caught up around cape cod in the fall just one more diversion for the fishermen before I 1 continue on the more important matter of how to fish fora lower cost of living which is what I 1 am really supposed to be talking about ever do surf fishing for blues great stuff you stand out there on the shore with the waves breaking around you and cast the last time I 1 tried it I 1 went right down into the undertow well you use a pretty stout rod for that ordinarily but a gentleman who has a story in the baked fish creole you dont have to go to new orleans for this if you have the recipe forthcoming issue of field and stream is going to tell a regular ripley he was surf fishing here at ocean city md and neither he nor the rest of the group was getting much so he shifted to a light casting rod and line and pulled them in three to one well back to my filets we ought to eat more fish the department of agriculture and the fish and wildlife service of the department of the interior are trying to do something about it As you know there is a federally subsidized school lunch program which provides a fund for food for school children the departments are sending folks out to show the school cooks how to prepare fish and they are doing a very sensible thing they are trying to get the schools to teach the pupils soni something ething about the fish they are arc eating their life habits and general characteristics you know out in the Midd lewest where I 1 was brought up nobody knew much about fish when they bought fish they just bought fish they know the difference between A broiled filet spicy sauce something different a pompano and a jellyfish along the great lakes where I 1 lived later we knew more whitefish were good so are whitings writings tings an ocean fish no relation another thing that the depart department ment of agriculture is trying to do through its home economics branch is to teach people how to cook fish most people think all fish ought to be fried they dont know how good a sauteed or baked fish is the french can cook fish with sauce so that it is a delicacy the fish and wildlife people are doing a similar job meat is going so mg up we have a lot of commercial fishermen whose living depends on how well you like fish and how well the fish bite or get netted you can benefit and so can they it if you learn to appreciate this kind of healthy nourishing and if properly prepared delicious food ill be glad to help you Diat national ional fisheries institute an association which is interested in all phases of the fishing industry its members include everybody from the fisherman to the dealer has a pamphlet entitled fish and shellfish cookery which ill be glad to send you if write me care of this newspaper |