Like asparagus and fresh peas, sea trout is defined by its season. Its appearance on restaurant menus means summer. Even its colour – pink, like a rosy dawn – reminds you of punts and weddings, and the arrival of the first strawberries. In Wales, where most sea trout, or sewin, is caught in this country, the sea trout season also means the resumption of coracle fishing, the ancient method whereby a team of two coracles floats down a stretch of river at night, a net suspended between them, to catch the fish as they start to move upstream.
That's the theory at any rate. In practice a coracle, a small round aquatic conveyance (calling it a boat makes it sound just too waterproof), once made from cowhide or tarred calico but now constructed out of hazel and willow and lined in tarpaulin or fibreglass sheeting, is more like setting out to fish in a washing-up bowl.
Historically, though, the coracle has proved extremely popular. It turns up as far afield as India, Tibet, Iraq and Vietnam, and was used by Julius Caesar during his Spanish campaign, its anxiety-inducing shape more than offset by its weight (very light, so you can carry it easily on your back to and from the water) and its silent progress (won't scare the fish, or the enemy).
In Wales in the 21st century, however, coracle fishing is something of a protected sport. There are only 21 licensed pairs of coracles allowed to fish in Wales, for up to 90 days each, 12 of which are allowed on the three-mile stretch of the River Teifi between Cardigan and Llechryd bridges (there are a further eight pairs on the River Towy and one pair on the Taff).
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