sports

outdoors with Lou Rodia

The Art of Hunting the Wild Mushroom

A bushel basket, a rope tied from handle to handle and an old paring knife are basic equipment for a peculiar breed of hunter What do you "catch" with this equipment .' What else but wild mushrooms, of course. There are the store Iniught kind, which are fine when there are no wild mushrooms a^und Hut if

you have savored the taste of the wild varieties and compared them, the store bought ones are about as good as the chip baskets they are shipped in There are a couple of basic rules about mushrooms. One is that unless you are A B - SOLUTELY sure as to what you are picking, stick with the ones from the

supermarket. And. no matter who tells you what about throwing a silver coin in the pot. or any of the other special "tests" which determine if the mushrooms are edible, there is no test which works. The only "test" is to be absolutely sure what you pick. THIS IS ONE sport where there is no guessing. The prettiest looking mushrooms can be deadly. Some look edible and are not. It does not pay to gamble. There are around 150 varieties of mushrooms on the continent. The biggest percentage are edible. The rest are mildly toxic or deadly poisonous. Again — forget about mushroom picking unless you are absolutely sure. Who goes for mushrooms these days? Some, like this writer who grew up in a family in which mushroom picking is a tradition. We started going with our grandparents, and later our parents, and now. with our one brother who still is as avid about it as anyone. Why bother? Mainly because there is a certain sense of excitement and a certain sense of accomplishment when you search out a patch of woods and find a stump loaded with the wild mushrooms of the variety we were taught to pick. That's the first reward T II K S K C O X I) REWARD comes when the mushrooms are brought home, cleaned, washed, boiled and put away in the freezer for future, use in s c a 1 1 o p i n i dishes, mushroom omelets, and an assortment of other dishes which call for mushrooms The main reward in pick ing mushrooms is in the eating The wild varieties have a flavor all their own Mushrooms have little, if any nutritional value They look good as garnishes in salads They eat well when cooked, cooled, and put into a dressing of oil. vinegar, an assortment of herbs, salt, pepper, onions, cut celery and a touch of garlic The flavor enhances i

whatever you cook t mushrooms with — be it veal, venison, chicken. ? sausage, pork, or beef, • SAUTE SOME wild mushrooms in butter, broil i a steak and decorate it with i sauteed wild mushrooms and it makes the effort to go pick them worth the energy expended As for the kinds we pick. ..they are few and far between. We pick ONLY the kinds our mother show- > ed us. She was a taskmaster when it came to teaching anyway, and with mushrooms, it was drilled into us to pick only the kinds she absolutely knew were good. Her mother had taught her the same way and there is no better way to learn. In our family, most of the cousins still go to pick mushrooms. Most of Uieir kids (ours as well) do not care to bother. And. unfortunately. they probably will never learn. AS T II E () L I) E R members of the family die off. so will the knowledge. The art of picking mushrooms will still remain, but it will be in someone else's family As for me. come fall, and come the full moon, there

will be a surge of interest in ! what is happening in the woods. We have our favorite spots. No. we do not talk much about them I except in the family and I amongst a few fellow i mushroom pickers. Some years, it wouldn't 1 make any difference how many you picked or how many people went to the spots to pick because there are so many. In other years, the mushrooms are scarce. It is years like these when selfish and secret creep into the makeup of the true mushroom hunter. THERE IS AN irony It is simply that year after year, the same areas may or may not produce. There is no guarantee that a spot will produce indefinitely. There are some stumps we revisit year after year until they totally disappear from sight, giving way to rot and weather. Some stumps are onetime producers. Some areas get mushroom gatherers excited, only to have them fail to produce ever again. It is a strange pursuit — one which has to be learned and experienced to be enjoyed. And. few people have the dedication to go into the woods in the fall with basket and knife in hand and search for mushrooms. A HUNTING BUDDY of mine once sent me a book on wild mushrooms A few glances at it pointed out why mushrooming is a serious business While the book was extremely well done, we noted that there are several varieties of mushrooms which are look alikes or almost so Some of the close look-alikes are on opposite ends of the spectrum as to edibility. We looked over the book and put it away. I am content to miss all of the other kinds which are edible according to the book But they are not on the list my mother taught me and they will remain in the woods, for all I care I am staying my proven formula - pick only what you ABSOLUTELY can identify Ml SHHOO.M FANS get word through the grapevine. One finds a few and calls the next mushroomer Soon, the en tire network gets the word, the baskets come out of hiding and the chase begins. Our first adventure

i this year produced bushel filled with mushrooms. So far it's been mushrooms > sauteed with fresh i tomatoes, onions, peppers I and browned hamburger for one dinner and a mushroom omelet for breakfast. The rest are in the freezer. SEA ISLE CITY: Capt. Neill Robbins, of the Capt. Robbins out of Sea Isle City reports he is still on a daily sailing schedule at 8 a.m. for wreck trips to catch sea bass and blackfish. Peter Kolsiopopulous of Philadelphia caught 60 sea bass and blackfish and won the pool with an 11% blackfish. Angelo Castrogiozanni of Bellmawr, boated 102 sea bass and blackfish. Gene Jackson of Philadelphia caught 93 sea bass and blackfish. CAPE MAY: Capt. Bob Schumann of the Sea Star II is scheduling daily trips from South Jersey Marina. Last Saturday, the Sea Star II ventured up the bay and did well on weakfish. Sunday, Sea Star II fares enjoyed good wreck fishing for sea bass and blackfish. The Porgy in is sailing Saturdays and Sundays from South Jersey Marina. Most boat liveries are buttoned up for the year The storm dictated that it was prudent to pull thq, boats for the season rather than to chance losses from the hurricane. Some of the liveries, however, remain open to sell bait and tackle and to answer questions about the status of the fishing Boat ramps are still functionin^for the trailered boa! SURF FlsflNG has been producing blues from snapper size to big stammers Some weakfish are also being caught Jetty fishermen have reported good numbers of blackfish around the rocks. Some are being caught around bridge abutments and pier pilings as well. Rough bottom where there are mussels 1 and clams also produces blackfish in the back bays. The most consistent action has come for the wreck fishermen, who are doing well on sea bass land blackfish. Some big slammer blues are also hanging around the wrecks. Now is a good time to fish the wrecks to fill the freezer with quality fish for the winter.

Cape May County ALMANAC NOVEMBER 1985

MOON PH VIES/POSITIONS The Men it 'j rffect on the Tide it greatrst when closest to Earth tin perigee) and whi-n in direct alignment with Sun h Earth (full t new moon phases) On and about the$e dalet. low pretture lyilrmi and/or strong wind* I depending upon direc tianl mav result in flooding and'or extremely low tidei Moan Phiasr> I.jM Ouurlrr 5 \rw Moon 12 Kirsi Ifuartrt IS Pull Moon 27 tpugrr 25 I'rrigrr 12 I TIDE TABI.E Computed lor Cape Mav City i bvarh/ronf lor other areas, see Correction Timet , II \TK IIH. II I OW , Kn ;; r* 1 2 Sill III Ill 12 1 :M I -MI ' : Siiii in .1 IIH I u| si:. I Moll II 12 7 is ♦; 12 1 Tin- 12 IT 12 III • > • 7 22 f. W.il I H I IT 7 21. H 24 I 7 Thu 2 IH 2 32 H 17 » IH H Kri i 41 I .7 s w lii in ; S S.il 4 IS I III 16 Ill .7 III sun > 12 > .1 II 2H || b. II Moo I. .SI I. IS I.' 12 Tu- . 't; 7 27 12 II lit I I.1 Vl.il 7 4 K 17, I 21 2 117 14 l l.n X 42 S IW 2 11 2 .7 | I . Kri 'i ti to <H I o2 Ms II. S.H I" Mi II lH i VI 4 41 - IV SlIll II JH I IS 7. 40 IH Mon K! nr. 12 27 . .2 li 4:t 15 TIM- I U5 I 25 7 «0 7 43 1 30 U.i| 2 i<7 2 2 . X 12 H 42 21 Thu l .17 I 24 •• US s in | 22 Kri 4 112 I 211 III 112 III 15 2.1 -N.ll I .2 US in Ml 111 V. 34 Sun •» t 31 II 35 II 37 -• M M " »' '• 1 2i. Tut- i. is 7 in 12 17 I 1*1 f 27 Will 7 24 7 a. 12 57 I II 2H Thu 7 Hi H 22 I It 2 20 I 2S Kn H II S nil 2 III 2 Hi .to Sill S <M s 411 2 43 .1 .14 | I

CORRECTION TIMES Compute approximate time* o/ high t low water far your area by adding or subtracting the fallowing number oj minutes far each tide phase in the Tide Table IOW HIGH ! Great Egg Harbor Inlet Plus 12 plus 10 ' Ocean City 1 9th St Bridge* ' plus 55 plus 22 < Corson Inlet i bridge * plus 21 plus? Sea Isle City < l.udlam Thoro Bridge* plus 66 plus 43 ' Sea Isle City Beach < minus 2 minus 21 t Townsend Inlet j plus 21 plus 4 . Seven Mile Beach plus IS 0 Stone Harbor ■ Greal Channel Bridge* plus 43 plus 40 | Hereford Inlel • Anglesea * plus 19 ft • W'ild*i nod Beach 2 minus 17 J West Wildwood .Grassy Channel bridge. t plus 46 plus 4.1 Cape Ma* Harbor plus I minus 4 ' Kive Kill hum Hank .» 1 plus 1 1 plus I *' Cape May Point v plus 46 plus H Mcfne Shoal , plus 2H plus 22 Delaware Hat liayshure Channel .Bay Canal Junctionlilus 47 plus .t6 Miami Beach |, plus?'. plus hi s I K-nius t 'reek Entrance plus 114 pills 97 1 Bra tidy wine Shoal laghl «' plus 77 plus. 2 a / c

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Cape V'ball Team Wins In Tourney LIVINGSTON In a gruelling volleyball marathon the Jersey I'ape Volleyball club kicked off the 1985-86 volleyball season with a big win Competing in men's BB level. Saturday. Oct 19. the team helped put Cape May County on New Jersey's "Volleyball Map" The competition went on for over 10 hours and tested not only the participants' skills but their stamina as well. Second place honors went to the New York team "Standard Deviations", which was beaten byJersey Cape in the three game final match THE TEAM members, all of Cape May Power league fame, are Bill Arnold. the Ferrante brothers. Kick and Ted. Boy Hurtle. Bill Holt. Bob Jackson. and Pete Kakovannis. The volleyball club will participate in a full tournament program this year and is actively seeking sponsors for the events it will attend Anylocal businesses interested in participating in this year's program is asked to call 884-2438 In addition the club will put on a recreational tournament for local teams Sunday. Nov 10. at the Lower Cape May Regional High School gym.

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