by Sheila Rae Watson

Created on: October 24, 2009   Last Updated: January 09, 2010

Spitfire Trout!

You have caught the perfect trout, the campfire is going and the coals are red hot and ready to cook the fish - but you need the cast iron skillet for the potatoes; now what? Do not despair, here in this article you will find a few good tips on cooking your Trout Djour on a spit, (which can be a stick) over those red-hot coals.

Tip #1 - The Fire

In a fire pit, build the campfire with kindling or fire starters and then place larger twigs and sticks on top to make a good strong base. Then arrange bigger logs around the smaller fire you have going, now let this catch fire and allow this fire to burn adding logs as needed for around one hour. By this time, your fire should be dying down a little and you will see bright red coals under any burning logs. Gently pull these logs back to reveal the coals - this is where you will cook your beauteous fish!

Tip #2 - Fish Size

Cooking on a stick or spit is not difficult but the size of the fish does make a difference. It is much easier to secure a large trout to the stick than it would be a smaller one.

For our purposes here, we will be using a nice two pound, fresh caught, Brown Trout; it will probably be around 12-14 inches in length. The trout will have been gutted under running water to wash out all blood and viscera matter and if you are very lucky you will find a prize if trout roe is found along with the entrails. (Leave this roe inside the fish for some good eating!) Leave the head on the fish to make cooking easier.

We have the fire, the fish and now we need the stick or spit upon which to cook the fabulous fish.

Tips #3 - The stick

Not all sticks are created equal; make sure the wood you use to roast any meat over a campfire is not going to make you sick, by being poisonous or harmful for human consumption. Look for a Willow trees, use strong pine boughs or even hardwood tree branches of oak, birch or hickory. These hardwoods make great spits to use over hot coals in a campfire. (I prefer the sturdy willow branch, stripped of all bark to use for this purpose, wanting only to enjoy the flavor of the catch of the day!)

Cut a strong branch, at least 1 inch thick stick off a willow tree, peel off the bark and allow this stick to dry a little by the fireside before using.

The fire is ready with lots of red-hot coals; the fish is gutted and awaiting its skewering process; so then let us proceed.

Sharpen one end of the stick because you are going to string the fish on this stick

Place the stick

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