~Phillip Gentry
Volumes and volumes of books, newspaper and magazine articles have been written about food. What to eat, where to eat, how to prepare it and so on. Of this multitude of information, very little revolves around what to eat when you’re on a boat, not a cruise ship, but a boat, particularly a fishing boat.
The standard fisherman’s menu consists of cans of Vienna sausages, peanut butter crackers, trail mix, maybe a couple of candy bars and Mountain Dew. Granted, some folks consider Vienna sausage the sirloin of the sea, but it still boils down to junk food with little nutritional value.
Many boaters and anglers would love to eat better on the water, but it’s hard to beat a lunch that can be purchased on the run from a convenience store at 5:00 in the morning for $3.72.
One of the keys to tat might allow the angler to eat better on the water is some time spent in preparation. Packing a lunch for fishing is really no different than packing a lunch for work, school, or anything else. In these brown bag circles, the sandwich and a bag of chips is king.
Sometimes the problem with sandwiches, or anything else that may go bad on a hot day is the requirement of refrigeration. No problem here as ice chests and coolers go together with boats like peas and carrots. On the downside, there is nothing worse than sandwich bread that has been stored in close proximity to ice cubes or worse, melted ice, especially if not sealed in a waterproof container.
If your going the cooler route, it’s pretty easy to stop by the deli counter at the local grocery store and pick up some cold cut meats and cheeses, these can be stored in disposable Tupperware containers (that never really get thrown away) and combined with some sliced bread or crackers that don’t require refrigeration. Maybe even toss in a few packets of mustard and mayonnaise and assemble your meal right there.
If you want to get even fancier, the larger the boat, the more likely that boat has room for a small, portable gas or charcoal grill. In stead of cold cuts, you could throw some hamburger meat or hotdogs in the cooler and cook right on the boat. Why even settle for hamburger? A couple of steaks will fit in the cooler and could also go right on the grill.
While much of the boat food menu leans heavily toward the high protein side of the diet, it doesn’t all have to be meats, cheese, and bread. It’s hard to beat any of the fresh fruits and vegetables that are so much more abundant and available during the spring and summer than at other times of the year. Most grocery stores will have some cut fruit already loaded in a container or you can just pick raw items from the produce department or from your local produce stand.
A lot of what many consider “camping food” also finds its way on the boat. Cereal bars, protein bars, energy bars and the like are easy to store and in the event you’re eating in a hurry, for example during a fishing tournament, provide a fair amount of nourishment that’ll get you through until weigh in.
Finally, for those who enjoy both hunting and fishing, one of the great benefits of deer hunting is having deer jerky or summer sausage made from venison and packaged in vacuum sealed containers. Few can argue with eating deer you harvested yourself while out on the water during the off-hunting season.
