One More Reason to Go Fishing

Up to 25% of fish sold at retail is fraudulently mislabeled, according to a recent DNA study described by the New York Times.

I knew that most Chilean sea bass on the market is the product of poaching and is sold with forged paperwork. And I'd heard about how many 'scallops' are actually skate wings punched out into cylinders. But fraud on this scale, across the board, is surprising.

Because I live a long way from the ocean I almost never buy fish anyway. Its just not going to be especially fresh. I'll buy sardines or kippered herring in a tin, but nothing else. When we eat fish in my house, we catch it ourselves. Its a pretty good means of being 100% certain about both the species and and the freshness.

Catching dinner every now and then is pretty cheap and simple to do. You can get a basic rod and reel combo with hooks and lures and everything for as little as $20. A set-up like that will work fine for catching bluegills, crappie, largemouth bass and smaller catfish. At that price it probably won't last more than a season before breaking but you can at least get started.

A fishing license in most states costs between $10-$18 for a year. Kids under the age of 15 or 16 usually don't need a license at all. Consider the fact that for under $40 you can get a license and all of the equipment and have something to do after work or on the weekends that won't cost you any more money, will get you outside and off of the couch, and might put dinner on the table. In this economy, fishing is a pretty good deal. At least you'll know for sure what you're eating.

I don't consider myself a particularly talented fisherman. I've been fishing since I was around seven years old and I get out as much as possible. I'll never be good enough to enter any tournaments. Every now and then I look at one of those diagrams of bass structure in a large lake in Field & Stream, complete with lunar tables and asterisks for rain and temperature and I honestly have no idea what the hell it all means. Yet I still have a pretty good time every time I go fishing and I still bring home enough fish to keep bothering with it. A cheap spinning rod combo is hands-down the cheapest and easiest way to start putting some of your meat supply into your own hands.

[Photograph copyright 2011 by Jackson Landers. All rights reserved]