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March 2002

The Toptrout Times

Welcome to the March 2002 edition of 'The Toptrout Times', the regular email newsletter from Top Trout Ltd, bringing news, updates, special offers and advice from the team at www.toptrout.co.uk

Spring is here and the new season is upon us!

As I write this at the end of March, we're enjoying an unfamiliar spell of sunshine that looks like it will last into the start of the new season. I for one am looking forward to the warmer weather and calmer winds.

My two attempts at early fishing this year both resulted in blank days. The first day in the middle of February was cold and bright but with very little sign of activity, and the second day early in March was blowing a gale while I sat in a boat wrapped up in four layers of clothing trying to keep warm.

One or two people were catching on Booby's under the fish cages, but I tend to stick to my tried and trusted methods that work well for me during the rest of the year. More fool me.

For most of us, April is when we make our first outing, and now is the time to start checking our kit and buying new tackle.

New Stock!

We have have another new addition to our wide range of filleting knives.
  • An entry level Marttiini filleting knife for only £10.95!. That's right, a genuine Marttiini knife with the famous Marttiini stainless steel blade and comfortable rubber handle at the bargain price of only £10.95.

    The main difference between this knife and the others in the Marttiini range is the plastic, rather than metal, finger guard and the composite, rather than leather, sheath.
Did you see us at the South East Flyfishing Show ?

We were exhibiting at the South East England Flyfishing show in Ardingly, Sussex on 10th March and if you're one of the people at the show I hope you stopped by to say hello. We were incredibly busy during the morning with barely a chance to catch our breath before another customer turned up.

The afternoon was a good bit quieter, largely due to the casting demonstrations going on outside and the fact that this years show was taking place on Mother's Day. If you didn't make it to the show this year, then keep your eyes open for details of next years show. It's well worth a visit.

One of the items that got a lot of attention was our demonstration of the effectiveness of our filleting gloves. Their performance is very impressive in real life but hard to show on the Internet. We'll launch a promotion soon on our web site to see if we can bring a clearer picture of their effectiveness to our web customers.

New Special offer in April

Our current special offer of a free Permanent Pen (worth £1.95) with all freezer bags purchased runs out at the end of March 2002. We want our customers to appreciate the safety benefits of using a filleting glove when using our sharp filleting knives, so I'm happy to announce that our new special offer will reduce the price of our filleting gloves to only £9.95 when bought with any filleting knife.

Full details of the offer will appear in the first week of April and the offer is expected to run until the end of May.

Click here for further details of our special offers.

Revised delivery charges

Effective immediately, we are improving our delivery options so that all our UK customers can choose between First Class Post (£1.95) and Special Delivery (£3.95). Previously, only customers with orders below £20 could choose. Orders over £20 were automatically sent by Special Delivery.

This new policy makes it more cost effective for customers to order from us, and eliminates the need for them to be in to sign for Special Delivery parcels.

Another favourite recipe

Here's a good recipe that works nicely on the barbecue and can also be cooked indoors if you prefer; Trout baked in Newspaper. The beauty of this recipe is that the fish gets cooked in the steam from the wet newspaper thus keeping it moist, and the skin tends to come off when you unwrap the newspaper making it one of the easiest ways to cook fish too.

Ingredients.
  • 1 whole fresh trout of 2-3lbs (Cleaned and gutted, with the head still on but the gills removed)
  • Splash of olive oil
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 4-5 lemon slices
  • 1 Spring onion - Chopped
  • Sprinkle of your favourite herbs (or a mixed herb / herb-de-provence mix)
  • Good shake of Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the fish on a sheet of newspaper and make a few diagonal slashes along each side of the fish to allow the flavours to permeate.

Pour a little olive oil onto the fish and rub all over. Add the rest of the ingredients, some on the inside, some on the outside, so that the fish is well covered.

Now wrap the fish in several layers of your favourite newspaper, folding the edges over as you go to seal in all the flavour and juices. Tie the parcel in string and soak under the tap for long enought to make sure the newspaper will be damp right through.

To cook, simply grill on a barbecue or fire for about 25 minutes each side, or bake in the oven at 220 C for 30-40 minutes.

That's all from us for now. We'll be back with another issue in May but in the meantime you can find more recipes and advice here.

Best wishes and tight lines for the new season.