Penns

Actually trout cook better on a non-stick pan.
 
I could not agree more! I don't know how realistic those numbers are but I have a feeling that the real numbers stacked against huge fish making it in our most popular streams.
Oh I completely pulled those numbers out of my @ss. But it was just an illustration.
 
You can't require anyone to kill fish. You can have a slot limit open to harvest, and a stretch of Penns already has that.

Then you have to take a place like Penns (a holy fly fishing water, no doubt) that is frequented by multitudes of fly fishermen who embrace the catch & release lifestyle (for good reason, mostly) and have them deride you, make comments, and harass you about how stupid you are for harvesting wild browns, and we must protect these fish, and blah blah blah.

Have you ever seen anyone harvest a brown on Penns? Yeah, me neither. I am going to this fall, however. I am going to take my bicycle, go to a remote section of stream, have my ingredients needed to cook a beautiful brown in cast iron on a fire, and enjoy a delicious trout dinner.
I’ve harvested a few, generally on camping trips and within the slot limit season. Same with the lower (non C&R) section of BFC. You definitely should! They are delicious! And you can really taste the freedom of a wild trout.

I think troutbitten has an article somewhere that basically reads something like ‘Every flyfisherman should eat a trout once in a while’ that made some very salient points. Hell, I wish spring allowed a slot harvest, those dinks could afford to be thinned out.
 
You can't require anyone to kill fish. You can have a slot limit open to harvest, and a stretch of Penns already has that.

Then you have to take a place like Penns (a holy fly fishing water, no doubt) that is frequented by multitudes of fly fishermen who embrace the catch & release lifestyle (for good reason, mostly) and have them deride you, make comments, and harass you about how stupid you are for harvesting wild browns, and we must protect these fish, and blah blah blah.

Have you ever seen anyone harvest a brown on Penns? Yeah, me neither. I am going to this fall, however. I am going to take my bicycle, go to a remote section of stream, have my ingredients needed to cook a beautiful brown in cast iron on a fire, and enjoy a delicious trout dinner.
I have not seen anyone keep a brown out of Penns. That is where the "required" to keep fish idea came from. I don't believe that slot limit has any impact on the fish population since 99% of people who fish there are strictly catch and release. Obviously unrealistic to require killing of fish, but just an idea.

And of course the killing of wild trout would strike a nerve with a large portion of fly fisherman. I personally don't keep trout because of the hassle of dealing with carrying around a fish, keeping it cold, etc., but certainly not against it.
 
I have not seen anyone keep a brown out of Penns. That is where the "required" to keep fish idea came from. I don't believe that slot limit has any impact on the fish population since 99% of people who fish there are strictly catch and release. Obviously unrealistic to require killing of fish, but just an idea.

And of course the killing of wild trout would strike a nerve with a large portion of fly fisherman. I personally don't keep trout because of the hassle of dealing with carrying around a fish, keeping it cold, etc., but certainly not against it.
as long as the PFBC keeps stocking over wild trout, I will never begrudge someone the opportunity to “complete the process of the catch” from a sport to table standpoint. As long as it’s within regulations it’s fair game- and the non-native fish all the more (I do have personal misgivings about harvesting and killing brook trout in PA, but that’s just me- and I’ve happy killed and eaten the same species in the West where they interfere with the cutty’s) . Come to think of it, i’d bet one of those lower to mid teens upper Delaware rainbow trout that fight like tarpon would taste pretty good!
 
I have not seen anyone keep a brown out of Penns. That is where the "required" to keep fish idea came from. I don't believe that slot limit has any impact on the fish population since 99% of people who fish there are strictly catch and release. Obviously unrealistic to require killing of fish, but just an idea.

And of course the killing of wild trout would strike a nerve with a large portion of fly fisherman. I personally don't keep trout because of the hassle of dealing with carrying around a fish, keeping it cold, etc., but certainly not against it.
I have witnessed people killing trout from Penns in the C&R areas. Most recently around Covid/2020. So, it happens. And whats the saying..."absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".
 
I met a guy who said his family owns a big (maybe 800 acres) forested property in NCPA with a brook trout stream running through it. He said the stream has good numbers of brook trout, but they are small.

He said he and his family members have been catching and keeping as many brook trout as they can, but they just don't get any bigger.
 
I met a guy who said his family owns a big (maybe 800 acres) forested property in NCPA with a brook trout stream running through it. He said the stream has good numbers of brook trout, but they are small.

He said he and his family members have been catching and keeping as many brook trout as they can, but they just don't get any bigger.
And is that supposed to somehow correlate to our discussion on Penns and how harvesting fish could not and would not possibly provide larger fish on average?

In my opinion, your comparison has no value. In a small, infertile NCPA brookie stream, the limiting factors for size are the harsh, infertile environment of the stream. The stream itself is the limiter, not the fish population. That's just my opinion, but stream quality and food isn't a limiting factor on Penns, unless we talk about the stress of summer heat on large trout..
 
If you follow the Troutbitten site, which is based in Central PA, although they never mention the stream by name, the guys on there night fish quite a bit on Penns. They give some really good info on night fishing in general in articles and podcasts. Anyway, they catch 20"+ fish quite regularly at night and even land 24"+ fish on occasion. Penns is heavily fished, but if you know where, when and how to fish for big trout, they are there.
 
Seasoned correctly and cooking at the right temperature, cast iron has great non-stick properties
And you get non of the cancer causing chemical compounds used to create non-stick pans 🙂

(full disclosure, I do use non-stick pans for cooking eggs and omelets, otherwise it's always cast iron. I'd cook everything it one if the wife would get on board with the project. lol)
 
And you get non of the cancer causing chemical compounds used to create non-stick pans 🙂

(full disclosure, I do use non-stick pans for cooking eggs and omelets, otherwise it's always cast iron. I'd cook everything it one if the wife would get on board with the project. lol)
I made a 3 egg omelet in a cast iron skillet this morning. I had ZERO stickage. Contrary to popular belief, it's good to occasionally give them a deep clean with dish soap. If you're cast iron feels sticky to the touch, it has too much built up oil.
 
Dear jifigz,

I've been frying eggs and making omelets in the same cast iron pan for decades. I always spray a little butter flavored cooking spray on the pan and heat it up then cook. I let it cool down and wipe it clean with a paper towel and it's ready to go again.

I think that sticking starts when the pan isn't completely clean when you use it. It just takes a little bit of leftover food to make things stick for me. If I pay attention, I don't have problems.

Heck, I even do pork and beef roasts in a cast iron Dutch oven on the stovetop like my Nana did. I roast potatoes and onions and carrots with it too and make gravy with the drippings at the end. I just wash it with water and drizzle a little cooking oil on a paper towel and wipe it down when dry so it's ready to go next time.

I love cast iron, it's thick and dense, like my skull! 😉

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
Dear jifigz,

I've been frying eggs and making omelets in the same cast iron pan for decades. I always spray a little butter flavored cooking spray on the pan and heat it up then cook. I let it cool down and wipe it clean with a paper towel and it's ready to go again.

I think that sticking starts when the pan isn't completely clean when you use it. It just takes a little bit of leftover food to make things stick for me. If I pay attention, I don't have problems.

Heck, I even do pork and beef roasts in a cast iron Dutch oven on the stovetop like my Nana did. I roast potatoes and onions and carrots with it too and make gravy with the drippings at the end. I just wash it with water and drizzle a little cooking oil on a paper towel and wipe it down when dry so it's ready to go next time.

I love cast iron, it's thick and dense, like my skull! 😉

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
I couldn't agree more. It's great stuff. Generally, all I do is wipe it out, too. But I've had them get gross and sticky, and then they get steel wool, Ajax, and a thorough scrubbing. Afterwards, they get a very light oiling and begin cooking again.

I just did two of mine that way after having WW Jam. They were gnarly. Steel wool, wash, re-season, and I had beautiful non stick omelette this morning.

Cast iron cookwares best ability is also the manufacturers' biggest curse. The stuff lasts so long that, once you have it, you should never have to buy it again.
 
I am very protective of my CI pan. Barely even let my wife cook with it. Use it all the time. Fry a few strips of bacon and then cook the eggs hot and fast in the bacon grease. Best tasting eggs you’ll ever have.

I get it screaming hot on the grill and cook my steaks butter baste style in it, or blacken fish in it. And don’t smoke out the house that way.

A couple times a year on a rainy or snowy Saturday I’ll put a few coats of seasoning on it. Heat, apply a thin coat of your fat of choice (I like Crisco), allow to completely cool, repeat. Beyond that, just wash with hot water when necessary.

The hardest thing on it IMO is cooking smash burgers. Even like an 80/20 blend beef seems to just pull the seasoning out of it. Processed American cheese probably doesn’t help. When it’s in need of a re-season anyway I’ll usually cook those and then do a full re-season as described above after.
 
I am very protective of my CI pan. Barely even let my wife cook with it. Use it all the time. Fry a few strips of bacon and then cook the eggs hot and fast in the bacon grease. Best tasting eggs you’ll ever have.

I get it screaming hot on the grill and cook my steaks butter baste style in it, or blacken fish in it. And don’t smoke out the house that way.

A couple times a year on a rainy or snowy Saturday I’ll put a few coats of seasoning on it. Heat, apply a thin coat of your fat of choice (I like Crisco), allow to completely cool, repeat. Beyond that, just wash with hot water when necessary.

The hardest thing on it IMO is cooking smash burgers. Even like an 80/20 blend beef seems to just pull the seasoning out of it. Processed American cheese probably doesn’t help. When it’s in need of a re-season anyway I’ll usually cook those and then do a full re-season as described above after.
My woman won't use mine. She hates them. That's okay. I do 99.9% of the cooking anyways.

I hope we are all buying and using Lodge cast iron. Unless someone new has sprung up in recent years, Lodge is the last surviving company manufacturing cast iron in the U.S.A. All other brands are foreign made. I'm not saying the Lodge are better quality, but we should do our best to keep those folks in Tennessee employed at the foundry.

My mother has a bunch of old Griswold cast iron that was made in Erie, PA. There used to be many manufacturers of it here in the U.S
 
My woman won't use mine. She hates them. That's okay. I do 99.9% of the cooking anyways.

I hope we are all buying and using Lodge cast iron. Unless someone new has sprung up in recent years, Lodge is the last surviving company manufacturing cast iron in the U.S.A. All other brands are foreign made. I'm not saying the Lodge are better quality, but we should do our best to keep those folks in Tennessee employed at the foundry.

My mother has a bunch of old Griswold cast iron that was made in Erie, PA. There used to be many manufacturers of it here in the U.S
Dear jifigz,

My 5- and 7-quart Dutch ovens are Lodge, same as the flat skillet I use on my grills.

I bought my egg skillet for 25 cents at the Eglin AFB thrift store in the mid-1980's. It was literally bright orange with rust, but for 25 cents I couldn't resist. I called my Nana McMurtrie and asked her if it could be saved? She said yes, just clean it up and oil it.

Living in barracks I had no access to real cooking and cleaning facilities, so I did the next best thing. I went to the beach and spent a couple of hours scooping up wet sand with it and rinsing it off in waves. I got it down to a decent matte gray color and headed back to the barracks where I rubbed butter all over it.

We went camping the next weekend and I managed to cook some fried eggs and bacon in it and the rest is history! 😉

It's just some crappy old pan, but 40 years of hard work has made it a prized possession.

Regards,

Tim Murphy 🙂
 
During a break up one time, we had to flip a coin for the CI. We agreed on things like the dog, cars, finances. I’m not kidding. Anyway, I won, and still have it. I’d like to think that was some form of the world making things right.
 
Only at PAFF can we go from arguing about size of fish on Penns and whether or not harvest would help increase big fish size to professing our love for cast iron!

We solely cook on cast iron, and do not own a non stick. Our sauce pans and pots are stainless. The hardest thing on cast irons we have found is seafood or fish with citrus. Almost always have to fully reseason afterwards.

There was a company from lancaster at the outdoor show in Harrisburg not far from the Fish and Boat booth that made cast iron pans. They were quite expensive, but seemed high quality and glass smooth.

Most of ours are handed down older lodge pans and are still going strong. At my camp we have 2 very large griswalds that are probably 100yrs old.
 
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