Backpacking food is often uninspiring. Because vegetables and meat are heavy and inconvenient,听they often get left behind. And many easy-to-make, lightweight, dehydrated meals are听bland or textureless. It鈥檚 a shame听when you consider the wealth of free and delicious wild foods we鈥檙e surrounded by on so many backpacking trips. Plus,听if you gather your meal at camp, it won鈥檛 weigh you down on the trail.
If you want to go this route, your options are: get a Ph.D.鈥檚 worth of knowledge and experience in order to find and eat wild mushrooms, berries, and plants with confidence, or, depending on the water near your camp and the local laws, pack a lightweight fishing rod (like听the small-water ones we recommend here) and just a few other supplies, like a knife and spices. With even a little bit of practice and planning, odds are decent you鈥檒l be able to pull a meal out of a nearby lake or stream, and often听that dinner will be a delicious trout.
Trout are one of the better fish to catch and eat in the backcountry, not only because they鈥檙e plentiful in mountain waters all across the U.S., but they鈥檙e also a cinch听to clean and prep no matter their size. That said, if you鈥檙e imagining a big fillet of pure meat like you pick up at the store, you鈥檙e going to be disappointed. In the backcountry, you鈥檙e almost always going to end up with a mess of meat, bones, and skin on your plate. But picking tidbits of freshly caught trout off the bones is only as hard as scavenging every delicious morsel off a chicken wing鈥攁nd much more satisfying. Plus,听it tastes way better than a bag of freeze-dried slop.
Cleaning
Once you鈥檝e caught and killed your fish, you鈥檒l want to clean it as quickly as possible鈥攊deally immediately. Warm temperatures can cause trout to deteriorate and spoil fast, but removing the entrails will slow that process. Waiting until you get back to camp or听when it鈥檚 time for dinner听can result in a wasted fish.
A dedicated filleting utensil, like Morakniv鈥檚 rubber-handled ($20) or Opinel鈥檚听folding ($20), will deliver clean and easy cuts and prove听much more effective than knives not built for this purpose. Trust us on this one.听Begin by holding the fish by its lower jaw and making a cut up the belly听from the anus (the small hole toward the tail) to between the gills. Use the tip of the knife to slice just through the skin. Avoid piercing the entrails or spine and spilling blood.
Cut two slits in the thin layer of skin just behind and under the bottom jaw of the fish, creating a V that points forward. (You can see this area better by sticking a finger in the fish鈥檚 mouth and pressing down on its tongue.) Slip your thumb into the V you just cut, and pull down toward听the tail鈥攖his should remove the gills and guts in one clean stroke. Inspect听the cavity for any remaining entrails, and remove anything that isn鈥檛 meat or bones. Check local regulations for how to dispose of the entrails: in most places, you can drop them into deep or moving water (not at the shoreline) or bury them in a cathole far away from camp and the water. When in doubt, pack them out in a sealed container.
Once the guts are gone, you should see a line of red along the spine at the back of the cavity. Run your thumbnail along this line from head to tail, squeezing out all the blood. This听is the fish鈥檚 kidney, it听doesn鈥檛 come out with the rest of the guts, and leaving it in can spoil the taste. If you want to remove the head, bend it back until you break the spine, then cut it away. (This is optional: if you do,听you鈥檒l be missing out on some secret stashes of meat later on.)
Clean the fish thoroughly听inside and out with fresh water to wash off any blood or other guts, then dry it well with a clean towel. At this point, the fish is ready to cook. Seal it in a disposable zip-top bag or ($12), and keep it as cool as possible until you鈥檙e ready to eat. You can usually keep听the bag in the water on the shoreline.
Cooking
One of the easiest听and most delicious听ways to cook your trout is by seasoning it inside and out with olive oil, salt, and lemon pepper. I carry my oil in a reusable squeeze bottle like HumanGear鈥檚 ($25 for three). Pocket-size听 ($14 for two)听or one-ounce听听($6) are good for packing spices. For those willing to haul in more听fixings, a real lemon (save some for seasoning as you eat) intensifies the flavor, and butter (it should keep a day or two at moderate temperatures without refrigeration) is richer than oil.听Dedicated backcountry chefs can pack the fish鈥檚 cavity with garlic, dried herbs like thyme and oregano, onions, and spices like cayenne. Keep in mind that adding veggies or other things to the fish will lengthen the cooking time.
Once you鈥檝e seasoned the fish, wrap it in aluminum foil. If your fish are smaller than eight to ten听inches, you might be able to combine a few into one sheet; otherwise, wrap them up individually. If you鈥檙e lucky enough to be able to cook your trout over a campfire, wait until you have a good bed of coals, then lay the foil-wrapped fish over them. If you have a grate鈥攐r an easy-packing grill and pit combo, like the 听($34)鈥攜ou can also raise them above the fire听to better control the cooking temperature.听Cook the fish for five to ten minutes (a general rule is eight minutes per inch of thickness, but exact numbers depend on the fish and your fire), flipping it halfway through.
If fires are a no-go due to local restrictions or fire danger, cut the fish into manageable lengths for your pot or pan, then fry them over your camp stove. While using foil isn鈥檛 necessary in this case, wrapping the fish can make cleanup easier.
You鈥檒l know your fish is ready to eat when the meat is opaque and flakes easily.
Eating
If cooked properly, the meat should slide right off the bones, giving you听a lot more than you鈥檇 get by filleting the fish prior to cooking (which is often tricky with smaller trout听anyway). Pull the meat off carefully to limit the number of bones that end up in your mouth, but be prepared to spit a couple of small ones out.
The skin and fins are all OK to eat, as are the eyes and the cheeks鈥攖he latter are tiny scallop-like morsels that have long been prized for their rich, almost sweet flavor.
From hook to plate, you can be chowing down on听a fresh, all-time backcountry meal in just 20 minutes, having carried little more than a rod, a few sheets of aluminum foil, a squeeze bottle of oil, and a few of your favorite spices.