Seven minutes after my line spools into the Manukau, I am wondering the same.<\/p>\n
Brown is a chef, restaurateur and television personality whose business interests include a line of sauces, Best Ugly Bagels, Auckland restaurants Fed Deli and Depot, and multiple cookbooks.<\/p>\n
He has always fished but, until now, has never written a book about it. Hooked: Learning to Fish (Allen & Unwin, $35) started life as a \u201chow to\u201d guide for young anglers.<\/p>\n
I am neither young nor an angler. If Brown can teach a kid to fish, can he also teach a Kim?<\/p>\n
The red-and-yellow plastic float on my line bobs gently. A sabiki rig normally has at least six small hooks with flashy nylon tail feathers but Brown has helpfully halved my odds of a tangle if something takes the bait.<\/p>\n
\u201cAm I going to catch three fish?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he says. \u201cI doubt you\u2019re going to catch any.\u201d<\/p>\n
And that might be the point of this exercise.<\/p>\n
Find yourself a fishing buddy who will carry most of the gear and bait your hooks. Or you could just read the new book by Al Brown (front, carrying most of the gear). Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have all these words these days \u2013 being \u2018mindful\u2019 and noticing what\u2019s going on around you \u2013 well that\u2019s kind of what you do with fishing,\u201d says Brown. \u201cYou\u2019re in nature, and you\u2019re aware of what\u2019s going on. You\u2019re looking to see if there\u2019s a trout sipping mayflies off the top of the water, or you\u2019re out at sea and you see some birds in the distance, some gannets bombing \u2013 those are the things that shorten the odds of catching a fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
A blue heron swoops low. A rogue whitecap in the distance turns out to be a seagull. I am noticing, noticing, noticing. What I have yet to observe is a fish on my line.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of things you learn with fishing that help you every day, with everything else,\u201d says Brown.<\/p>\n
I went to Cornwallis wharf to talk to a man about his book, but what I was really looking for was a salty Yoda. What has fishing taught Brown about patience? Perseverance? Love? What can fishing teach anyone about life?<\/p>\n
We were still in his truck eating chicken sandwiches (the good ones, from Fed Deli<\/a>, with hunks of thigh and crispy skin and caraway seed) when I ask about the state of his mental health. It\u2019s a work in progress; something he\u2019s been seriously tackling for almost 10 years now. <\/p>\n \u201cI used to have these dark moods that would be triggered by tiny little things, insignificant things. I thought, when I was growing up \u2018oh, I\u2019m happy half the time, I\u2019m sad sometimes and I\u2019m moody other times\u2019. But I realised that my moodiness, you know, there was something wrong, definitely.<\/p>\n \u201cI still get triggered by tiny little things, normally by people who I\u2019m close to . . . I\u2019m trying to catch myself when that feeling happens. And it happens in a millisecond and I am still lost. I don\u2019t have words, it just ambushes me. And it\u2019s anger, washed over fairly quickly with shame.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown was just four days old when he was adopted by a farming couple from the Wairarapa.<\/p>\n \u201cI was scared of my father, and couldn\u2019t relate to my mother either, and was off to boarding school at a very early age. And so I built up a sort of armour …\u201d<\/p>\n The farm kid who became a celebrity chef uses words like \u201cperfectionist\u201d and \u201cimposter syndrome\u201d to help him understand what happened next.<\/p>\n \u201cI was trying to prove to the world that I wasn\u2019t damaged goods … to understand that I am lovable. I still struggle with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown, 60, has two adult daughters and is in a newish relationship with businesswoman Wendy Francis-Ching<\/a>. Fishing has not saved him: \u201cBut I\u2019d certainly be lost without it.\u201d<\/p>\n He loves to fish solo.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have to prove anything. Because it\u2019s exhausting, of course, wanting to be good at everything, holding up your armour and not seeing any kinks.\u201d<\/p>\n But if solo trips help clear his head, \u201cit\u2019s often more of a good time when you are with a couple of mates … there is a tonne of pleasure that comes with witnessing good buddies catch a fish\u201d.<\/p>\n The secret? \u201cBeing in the right location at the right time with the right gear.\u201d<\/p>\n Hooked\u2019s target audience was, initially, kids aged 8 to 12. Brown says it\u2019s morphed into something he hopes will appeal \u201cto all those who, from time to time, like to wet a line\u201d.<\/p>\n The book contains gear lists for wharf, fly, boat and kayak fishing and surf casting. It covers how to tie knots, bait hooks, cast lures, fillet and cook a catch, and how to speak angler. There are sections on safety, sustainability and te h\u012b ika \u2013 M\u0101ori fishing. <\/p>\n I learn that a large fish is a donkey and a tiny fish is a sprat; that if you don\u2019t land anything you\u2019ve been \u201cskunked\u201d \u2013 and that there are at least seven styles of lucky fishing hat (if yours is a Brixton fiddler cap, it\u2019s a very fine line between salty sea dog and slightly arrogant 747 pilot).<\/p>\n Brown is a trucker cap kind of guy. His thermos contains instant coffee that he takes with sugar and cream and a chocolate wheaten. I have a counter offer.<\/p>\n \u201cLucky chocolate fish slice?\u201d It\u2019s from the recipe section of his book that includes instructions for chowder, fritters, roasted fish belly, Depot\u2019s sashimi and the fish slider that\u2019s made every Iconic Auckland Eats list<\/a>. An alleged \u201cbest fish pie ever\u201d contains two cups of frozen peas. Controversial?<\/p>\n \u201cPeas have always been one of my favourite vegetables. I love peas!\u201d<\/p>\nPreparing to catch piper on Cornwallis wharf with chef, Al Brown. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
Just a man, a rod and his thermos. Reporter Kim Knight is out of shot catching fish. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n
There’s something about fishing that makes you hungry for, well, fish. The “lucky” slice from “Hooked: Learning to Fish” by chef Al Brown. Photo \/ Michael Craig<\/p>\n