The Civilized Shore Lunch: Fly Fishing’s Missing Link

When I fly fish, food isn’t usually the main item on the menu. You throw down a sandwich or gnaw on a Powerbar, slug down some water, and keep fishing. It’s the norm in fly fishing, and if the fish are eating flies in a big way, it makes sense.

Still, what’s been lost is something so rustic-yet-civilized, I can’t help but mourn its passing: The Civilized Shore Lunch.

Fishing in Maine exposed me to the traditional shore lunch — a time-consuming affair where the guides build a big fire, fry up some fish, boil onions and potatoes, sear steaks, and finish off the waistline-expanding meal with homemade pie.

Maine shore lunch in full swing.

At first, I was annoyed by the time spent away from fishing, but later — after it became clear the shore lunch was the point of the fishing trip for most of the participants — it became a highlight of the day.

The food was great, you got to practice the new fishing lies developed during the morning’s fishing, and the guides pooled information for the afternoon’s fishing.

Of course, stuffing yourself with a metric ton of food creates the possibility there won’t be an afternoon’s fishing, but that’s the beauty of a free society; you can take whatever you want from an experience.

New West’s Bill Schneider posts about his shore lunch experiences, and while the menu is different (the potatoes are fried, beans are heated in the can, and the onions aren’t boiled), the point of the exercise is clearly the same.

He even lays out the steps needed to build a big shore lunch (these guys and these guys even provide hints and recipes).

A Recipe for the Shore Lunch Comeback

It’s hard to imagine the shore lunch ever making a big comeback among fly fishers — it’s typically the province of guides in remote Northern latitudes — but I’ve got a plan.

I think fly fishing’s ready for some enterprising guide to offer The Ultimate Meal: The Slaw Dog Shore Lunch.

Face it — the ingredients are cheap, no trout are harmed, preparation is quick, and fly fishers even wear waders, so cleanup would be as easy as hosing off the anglers in the party.

Sure, a real Slaw Dog Shore Lunch would mean the guide would have to also carry an emergency angioplasty kit and defibrillator, but that’s a small price to pay for the throngs of clients who will surely come.

Once again, the Trout Underground makes the world a better place for fly fishing guides, free of charge.

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