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Ever since Huck Finn first cast a line into the waters of Mark Twain’s novel, summer fishing has seemed to be the birthright of every American boy. Pants rolled up, fishing line attached to the end of a stick; sitting on a river bank waiting for a bite was a by-gone era’s Game Boy, a way for idle boys to pass the time on lazy summer days.
Today, those boys who fished on a pond became men who still fish--now in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Those fishing men had daughters and found that girls could roll up their Capri pants and cast a line too. And so in spite of the iPads, Xboxes, and Blackberries all competing for our attention, the simple summer fishing tradition remains intact, and with that comes a lot of fish.
I’ve always loved that bumper sticker “If Fishing was Easy they’d Call it Catching.” That one sentence pretty much sums up my own experience with finding the patience necessary to wait for the tug at the end of my line. As a child I could never quite understand what my brother found so interesting about fishing in the pond of a local golf course where the fish were so small there was nothing more to do than catch and release. Years later trying my hand at the activity with a friend on a lake in the Catskills, I started to understand the excitement of the sport as my heart would race a bit every time my line would tighten up, just to sink into disappointment when my catch yielded no more than some stubborn kelp.
It was a winter fishing expedition, ice fishing on that same Catskills pond where I’d tried my hand at warm weather fishing, where it all came together for me. Setting the traps around the frozen lake required some work as the winter was particularly cold that year, work I am not ashamed to say I left mostly to the boys. Once the traps were set we lit a fire, drank some beers, and waited… pretty much the same things we would be doing in the summer. This time, the catch was not good but great. The excitement was intoxicating: watching a flag pop up, racing to pull the fish from the water, and deciding whether this would be dinner or it would be the bass’ lucky day to be caught and released back to the wild.
Where I really connect with fishing is in the eating. Not unlike eating a salad with cucumbers and tomatoes from one’s own garden, there is something exceptionally satisfying about being personally responsible for catching one’s dinner. My friend’s nephew just experienced this for the first time after a fishing trip in the Napa Valley. Bringing the catch back to Calistoga Ranch where they were staying, the concierge escorted the young fisherman with his bounty of trout to the hotel kitchen where the chef showed him how to clean the catch. Not long after, this young boy received a tray of whole grilled fish that he caught, proudly sharing this most satisfying dinner with his aunt and mother.
In Hawaii there are laws that provide native Hawaiians the right to fish for one’s own dinner. It happens often that at a beach there I see young boys of 9 or 10, spears in hand with goggles and fins, bringing a small mesh bag of their day’s catch back to the beach to bring home for the family dinner. At the risk of overly romanticizing the scene, there is something so right knowing that no matter how tough times might get, these young fisherman are learning at an early age that there will always be food on the table if they get out in the water and fish.
I cannot write about fishing right now without mentioning the hardship of those whose livelihood depends on this activity on the Gulf Coast. Over three months after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and in spite of government testing assuring the safety of the Gulf seafood making it to market, customers are still wary. Huck Finn certainly never had to worry about crude oil in his fish but these are different times.
While many of us don’t have the ability to spend lazy summer days with a rod on a river bank waiting to catch that night’s dinner, there are men and women who make a life out of what is for many of us a hobby, making sure that tonight’s seafood dinner--be it from the waters of Hawaii or the Gulf of Mexico or elsewhere--is safe, healthy, delicious, and ready to eat no matter what river bank or ocean beach you call home.
©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1080-fishing-for-dinner/
Casting About For Dinner
Ever since Huck Finn first cast a line into the waters of Mark Twain’s novel, summer fishing has seemed to be the birthright of every American boy. Pants rolled up, fishing line attached to the end of a stick; sitting on a river bank waiting for a bite was a by-gone era’s Game Boy, a way for idle boys to pass the time on lazy summer days.
Today, those boys who fished on a pond became men who still fish--now in rivers, lakes, and oceans. Those fishing men had daughters and found that girls could roll up their Capri pants and cast a line too. And so in spite of the iPads, Xboxes, and Blackberries all competing for our attention, the simple summer fishing tradition remains intact, and with that comes a lot of fish.
I’ve always loved that bumper sticker “If Fishing was Easy they’d Call it Catching.” That one sentence pretty much sums up my own experience with finding the patience necessary to wait for the tug at the end of my line. As a child I could never quite understand what my brother found so interesting about fishing in the pond of a local golf course where the fish were so small there was nothing more to do than catch and release. Years later trying my hand at the activity with a friend on a lake in the Catskills, I started to understand the excitement of the sport as my heart would race a bit every time my line would tighten up, just to sink into disappointment when my catch yielded no more than some stubborn kelp.
It was a winter fishing expedition, ice fishing on that same Catskills pond where I’d tried my hand at warm weather fishing, where it all came together for me. Setting the traps around the frozen lake required some work as the winter was particularly cold that year, work I am not ashamed to say I left mostly to the boys. Once the traps were set we lit a fire, drank some beers, and waited… pretty much the same things we would be doing in the summer. This time, the catch was not good but great. The excitement was intoxicating: watching a flag pop up, racing to pull the fish from the water, and deciding whether this would be dinner or it would be the bass’ lucky day to be caught and released back to the wild.
Where I really connect with fishing is in the eating. Not unlike eating a salad with cucumbers and tomatoes from one’s own garden, there is something exceptionally satisfying about being personally responsible for catching one’s dinner. My friend’s nephew just experienced this for the first time after a fishing trip in the Napa Valley. Bringing the catch back to Calistoga Ranch where they were staying, the concierge escorted the young fisherman with his bounty of trout to the hotel kitchen where the chef showed him how to clean the catch. Not long after, this young boy received a tray of whole grilled fish that he caught, proudly sharing this most satisfying dinner with his aunt and mother.
In Hawaii there are laws that provide native Hawaiians the right to fish for one’s own dinner. It happens often that at a beach there I see young boys of 9 or 10, spears in hand with goggles and fins, bringing a small mesh bag of their day’s catch back to the beach to bring home for the family dinner. At the risk of overly romanticizing the scene, there is something so right knowing that no matter how tough times might get, these young fisherman are learning at an early age that there will always be food on the table if they get out in the water and fish.
I cannot write about fishing right now without mentioning the hardship of those whose livelihood depends on this activity on the Gulf Coast. Over three months after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig and in spite of government testing assuring the safety of the Gulf seafood making it to market, customers are still wary. Huck Finn certainly never had to worry about crude oil in his fish but these are different times.
While many of us don’t have the ability to spend lazy summer days with a rod on a river bank waiting to catch that night’s dinner, there are men and women who make a life out of what is for many of us a hobby, making sure that tonight’s seafood dinner--be it from the waters of Hawaii or the Gulf of Mexico or elsewhere--is safe, healthy, delicious, and ready to eat no matter what river bank or ocean beach you call home.
Whole Grilled Bass with Fennel and Orange Basil Vinaigrette
Made with whole striped bass, thyme, lemon, fennel bulb, salt and pepper, olive oil, basil, orange juice, champagne vinegar
Made with whole striped bass, thyme, lemon, fennel bulb, salt and pepper, olive oil, basil, orange juice, champagne vinegar
Serves/Makes: 4
- 4 whole striped bass (you can also use trout snapper, or other whole fish), cleaned
- 1 fennel bulb
- 1 lemon
- 4 sprigs thyme
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
***Vinaigrette***
- 8 large basil leaves
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup champagne vinegar
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/2 cup olive oil
Preheat a grill to medium high heat.
Pat fish dry with paper towels. Score the skin with a couple of slashes on each side.
Slice the fennel bulb and lemon into paper thin slices.
Season the fish inside and out with the salt and pepper. Fill the fish cavities with fennel, lemon slices and a thyme sprig in each. Drizzle the fish evenly with the olive oil.
Place the fish on the hot grill and cook for 5-6 minutes per side until the flesh is flaky.
Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette by combining the basil, orange juice, champagne vinegar, honey and olive oil, along with some salt and cracked pepper in a blender. Blend until combined. Adjust seasoning if necessary with salt and pepper.
To serve, plate the fish and drizzle with the orange basil vinaigrette.
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©2026 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of any portion of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
https://www.cdkitchen.com/cooking-experts/amy-powell/1080-fishing-for-dinner/