Flies Made From Pig Hair Catch the Best Trout

"Rivers are magical," says Tom Adams, as he stands in the middle of the River Test in Hampshire.

Adams is the founder and chef at Pitt Cue Co., London's go-to place for beautifully simple, barbecued pork. It's a pretty hectic job and to unwind, he likes to go fishing.

"My uncle has a farm in Winchester, where I learnt how to fish when I was about nine. Seeing him tie flies and go fishing with family friends on the River Dever in Barton Stacey, where he used to own a stretch of the river, really stayed with me," says Adams. "I now fish most weeks in Cornwall, on Charlie's [a friend of Adams' and supplier for Pitt Cue Co.] farm in Launceston. The beautiful river Ottery runs through the bottom fields of the farm."

Adams grew up in Cornwall and now divides his time between the West Country and Hampshire when he's away from London. Hampshire is widely considered the home of fly fishing. With its chalk base and crystal clear waters, the River Test attracts people from all over the world. They spread along its manicured banks, fishing for wild specimens, as well as specially stocked game fish.

Fly fishing requires specialist casting techniques and Adams uses hand-tied artificial flies—commonly made from rabbit fur and other natural materials—that are cast to land on water in a way that imitates a real fly. The flies need to be waxed and dried out in order to sit properly on the water. Adams favours those made using pig hair, a traditional Austrian method.

As we move upstream, with our flies, more and more real mayflies zoom across the river, the unfortunate ones landing on water where they struggle and tear to get away. At first we only lure graylings—freshwater fish in the salmon family—but eventually, Adams catches a wild trout moving swiftly through the shadows next to the dozier and larger brown trout.

"I like being active and near small, wild rivers in the middle of nowhere, preferably without phone signal," he tells me. "I enjoy the challenge of fly fishing, the constant learning process through experience, and the idea that you are trying to mimic what is naturally already happening on the river."

We release today's catch back into the river. It's the challenge of game fishing that appeals over killing and cooking here. Besides, the wild trout in the Test are small and the graylings are out of season.

The brown trout stocked in the river for benefit of sports fishermen are the only fish Adams cooks with (that is, after all, why they've been put in the river). A healthy fee buys you access to the river and these stocked fish for the day, as well as permission to take a few home.

Adams clearly has a lot of respect for the river and its inhabitants. He talks with admiration about salmon and sea trout fishing, and the journey fish undertake to get to their yearly spawning grounds upstream.

"I'm in complete awe of the sea—its power and mystery—but there's certainly something magical about rivers," he says. "There's an abundance of life immediately surrounding and within a river, and I think that's half the draw of spending a day fishing in one."

This post originally appeared on MUNCHIES in June 2015.