As Valentine's Day was approaching, I was dreading the idea of having to find a restaurant to go to and having to put up with all the waiting to be seated. So I decided that it'd be fun to go fishing, hope to catch a fish big enough to keep and to have a home-cooked trout dinner instead of going anywhere. The Saturday before Valentine's, I went to a fishing hole that produces large trout time and time again and in no time, I had landed this 20" trout. Every time I decide that I want to keep a fish, I feel like to zit-faced schoolboy who confidently and bravely accepts a dare but when on the brink of carrying out the dare, gets cold feet. I had decided before hitting the river, "I'm going to keep a fish this one time. It's for a good cause and we'll eat it all (no wasting)". However, once the fish was netted, guilt rushed over me and I nearly let him go.
I'm glad I didn't let him go. When we got home, I discovered that the fish was actually a cutthroat/rainbow hybrid. On the river that I fish, cutthroat trout are the native species that are actively protected. Rainbows on the other hand aren't. Hybrids are even less protected. Wonderful!
Come to find out, the fish was too big for any of the pans we had. I had to sacrifice a bit of the tail in order to get it to fit. We prepared it by simply breading it with flour and corn meal seasoned with salt and pepper. That's the way Catherine's dad prepares them and it usually turns out good. It looked delicious before we cooked it...
...but it wasn't too tasty afte the cooking; I don't care for the "fishy" taste of fish. Thank goodness for tartar sauce! There was a ton of fish left and fed us for a few more meals. I think I'd like to try something different than fried fish next time. Amy gave me some recipes that I'm anxious to try sometime...
Happy (belated) Valentine's Day, everyone! 
