NWR: Morels!!

M

MLipton

Mark Lipton
With Spring comes morel season in these parts, even if they are the SFJoe-disdained yellow variety. Having but recently declined to spend $40 on a pint of locally-grown specimens, I noticed when parking the car this morning that there are two large morels growing in our driveway, where it borders a small wooded area. So alerted, I will now have to conduct a thorough examination of the woods to see if I can turn up more.

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Life is good,
Mark Lipton
 
Wow,

It's early for morels, isn't it? The weather has been pretty warm in Iowa City, and I can't imagine it has been that different for you. We might just have to look around in the woods a bit this weekend.

cheers,

Kevin
 
We finally got some rain yesterday so I will be out looking this week. Everything is about three weeks ahead of usual here in the Catskills, including the Hendriksons.

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originally posted by Joel Stewart:
Nice 'bow, Kay...whadja catch it on?
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A Hendrikson.

And that's just a little guy, though she does have some big shouldersdidn't have the camera the previous evening when I landed a 20+ inch Brown with a gnarly hooked jaw. Out of the Beaverkill no less!

I love bragging about fishing on the Internet.

Kay
 
A Hendrikson.

I love bragging about fishing on the Internet.

Kay
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A little work with Photoshop, and you have some awesome fish stories.
I thought Hendrikson was the fish's last name, and was surprised you'd eat personal acquaintances.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
We finally got some rain yesterday so I will be out looking this week. Everything is about three weeks ahead of usual here in the Catskills, including the Hendriksons.

041910_02.jpg
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The spots make sense, but the color's a bit off for a (German) brown. Is that an artifact of the photo?

Mark Lipton
 
originally posted by MLipton:The spots make sense, but the color's a bit off for a (German) brown. Is that an artifact of the photo?

Mark Lipton
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It is a Rainbow trout, I didn't bring a camera when I caught the big Brown. It is tough to see in my hasty snapshot but there is big pink stripe down the side of the trout.

And Christian, all fish were released unharmed.
 
originally posted by Kay Bixler:
originally posted by MLipton:The spots make sense, but the color's a bit off for a (German) brown. Is that an artifact of the photo?

Mark Lipton
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It is a Rainbow trout, I didn't bring a camera when I caught the big Brown. It is tough to see in my hasty snapshot but there is big pink stripe down the side of the trout.

And Christian, all fish were released unharmed.
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Got it. I can sort of convince myself that there's the pink stripe if I look at it long enough. Are rainbows native to the East? Or were they brought in for sport? And you catch fish so that you can then let them go? The things people will do for fun...

Mark Lipton
 
Catch and release is confusing even to me. I try not to think about it too much.

Those morels on the other hand would be dead and in a frying pan already.

Rainbows are an import here, Browns too but both are thriving since NYC built reservoirs at the Delaware River headwaters (the water in the deep reservoirs stays very cold so the river water is also cold for several miles below the dam creating a perfect habitat for trout and the insects they like to eat).

And if I may hijack this thread a little more, the entire Delaware River watershed, which supplies clean water to several million people, all of whom read this board, is under siege because it happens to lie over a huge natural gas deposit. Unfortunately the only way to get at this gas7,000 feet below the surfaceis to use hydraulic fracturing which involves pumping millions of gallons of water mixed with sand and toxic chemicals (like good old benzene) into the ground to bust up the shale and release the gas. The process is new and exempt from EPA oversight (thanks Cheney!) and is leaving a trail of pollution in its wake. I could go on and on but if you're concerned you can learn more here:
www.catskillmountainkeeper.org
Or even here:
www.dec.ny.gov/energy
and here:

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geology.com
 
originally posted by Brad Kane:
originally posted by Kay Bixler:

And Christian, all fish were released unharmed.
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I hear Loire whites go well with Rainbow trout.
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I had an '02 Closel Papillon with a Rainbow prepared with a very light amandine last year, and it was a lovely match. My storage for the wine hadn't been pristine- the bottle had seen some mid-70 degree days the summer before, but despite this and the highish alcohol it showed very nicely.

Perhaps even enhanced because of the compromises- the additional alcohol helped cut the fat and let the parsley pop, the slightly more prominent honey thing made googly eyes with the nuts, and the expected mineral and yellow citrus were tinged slightly toward a pleasant orange on the palate. The wine was nowhere near Madeirized, but a bottle from a more consistent cellar a few months later was distinctly more angular.

Interesting to see Rahsaan checking in on it last week, as it seems the flavor profile in mine was more similar to his than it was to my friend's bottle, while at the same time was less "mellowed."

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winedisorder.com
 
Here in Dallas we have Tom Spicer (brother of Susan Spicer, the New Orleans chef) who is a forager of greens, herbs, and mushrooms among other things. Recently, he was foraging morels south of Dallas. Here are a couple of photos of his successful morel harvests. Tom has greatly enriched our lives certainly with wild mushrooms but also with amazing greens that SueSue and I have most every night that we eat at home. He also plays a Kalimbass and makes beautiful music. Occasionally he has dinners at his shop that are some of the best meals we have had here in Dallas
 
Silly me, I thought that clicking "add" would give me the option to add a photograph. After reading the FAQ, maybe this will work.

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originally posted by Kay Bixler:
A Hendrikson.
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Wondered about that....(I fish mostly in Idaho when I'm in the US)...so what does a Hendrikson mimic? Judging from the time of the year, I'd have guessed a midge, but never heard of a midge thus named.

Congrats on the brown monster, Kay....violent trolls they are. Love throwing terrestrials late in the day near them and watching what happens next.
 
Joel, a Hendrikson is a Mayfly (Ephemerella subvaria) sometimes also called a Red Quill. It's one of the first major hatches of the year around here.

Bill that is a serious haul of morels.
 
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