Field & Stream June/July 2017

MY FAVORITE PLACE IN SUMMER is an unremarkable stretch of water. For a long weekend every June or July, my wife and I escape to the same rental house near Creek in upstate New York. In the mornings, I rise early and gear up outside. I don’t need much: a ragged pair of Chuck Taylors, my designated wading shoes; a flimsy 3-weight with a click-and-pawl reel; and a small fly box of Betts panfish poppers. I walk for maybe 10 minutes alongside a county road till I reach a bridge, then I scramble down a small hill to the creek bank. The stream is about 30 feet wide. There’s little current, but the water’s clear and clean. The constant bridge traffic above isn’t exactly tranquil. Like I said, there’s nothing…

Jean-Paul Bourgeois is the executive chef at Blue Smoke, a dynamite barbecue restaurant just down the street from the F&S office. He’s also a lifelong hunter and a terrific wild-game cook—as evidenced by the recipes he wrote for our summer barbecue story, “Up in Smoke,” on p. 66. CK: What kind of hunting did you do growing up in Louisiana? JPB: Mostly duck hunting, but you could’ve easily found me and a couple buddies hunting doves or with our .22s shooting squirrels in the swamp. CK: What’s your favorite wild game to cook? JPB: Wood ducks—I love how these birds eat. And the meat is so versatile. It can be smoked, roasted, made into sausage, or dried into jerky. CK: Favorite kind of barbecue to eat? JPB: I love ribs.…

LOCATION: REWA RIVER, GUYANA Rewa Eco-Lodge hosts anglers chasing arapaima, among the world’s largest fresh water fish. Begun by the nonprofit IndiFly to pro mote conservation, the jungle lodge has helped the indigenous Ma cu shi develop a sustainable business via catch-and-release flyfis arapaima I thought, wow, these things are real,” Flana gan says. “You can hear them eating underwater, woomph. They close their bony mouths on the mono. You pull it through and try to find a soft spot. Once hooked, they do wild acrobatic jumps. I stripped on this fish, the line came tight, and it was off to the races.” After a nine- minute fight, Shun Alvin grabbed the leader, and the 7-foot monster leaped. Eg dorf, who had a piranha clip her leader as she battled…

LOW PROFILE “Highs and Lowcountry” (Apr. 2017) only further convinced me that there’s no better place than the Lowcountry of Carolina. Eileen Stewart, via fieldandstream.com TACKLE TAKEDOWN In “Break Out!” Joe Cermele recommends 25 lures for catching spring fish. But for bass, you need only two lures: a sapphire blue Baby Brush Hog and a black-and-blue wacky worm. That’s it. Mic drop. Kevin Thorpe, via Facebook LINE ART I appreciate artistry when I see it, and T. Edward Nickens’s “One Lasting Cast” (The Total Outdoorsman) deserves applause. The story captured the very essence of what it means to be a focused and determined fisherman. All too often anglers try to reduce the sport to a formula, but Nickens reminds us that, at its essence, flyfishing demands commitment and craft. Sebastian…

BUMMER SUMMER What’s the worst luck you’ve had on a summer fishing trip? I was kayak fishing when two swans jumped me. They tipped my kayak, and all my gear, plus my wallet and cellphone, sank straight to the bottom of the lake. I really, really hate swans. —CHUY GOMEZ I took a corner too fast in my truck and accidentally flung my rods out of my boat. But I didn’t notice until I got home. I had a good idea where it had all flown out, so I drove back to the spot, only to find that a mower had just come through and chopped up everything. —JARED GRANT I was driving to my favorite fishing spot, an hour and a half away, when I hit a duck flying…

Finely chop two salmon fillets, then mix in a bowl with 2 eggs, beaten; 1?2 cup panko; 1?4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes; 1?4 cup crumbled feta cheese; and salt and pepper to taste. Form the mixture into four patties and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. of sesame oil in a large skillet. Add the salmon patties and cook for about 3 minutes on each side. Serve on toasted buns with lettuce, mayo, and tomato.…