Delicacies from the deep

Whether it is a bumper bag of prawns foraged from a summer rock pool or a hard-fighting bass played to perfection, the fruits of the ocean never fail to delight Neil and Serena Cross

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NDC When we peer into a summer rock pool, we all become children again. What mysterious creatures of the deep lurk in its shady depths? I can spend countless hours clambering over rocky outcrops at low tide, prawning net and gaff in hand, with only the gulls for company. Over recent years, I have become a bit of a prawn star, employing an aged canoe called Tinker in my quest for crustacean elation.

A small boat with a shallow draught is a game-changer in the hunt for fat prawns, as one can access coves and gullies that the land-based forager is denied. Much as I love a free prawn cocktail, I'm not going to abseil for it, so Tinker gets nosed into secret places and pulled up on sand or gravel spits while I wade out, working the net under weedy overhangs. My net is home-made as I could never find a robust one on the market and it must be able to stand up to hard jabbing into gaps and fissures. A short telescopic gaff, of the type once used by sea-trout anglers, filed blunt and clipped to the belt is the perfect tool for persuading an edible crab - or even that rarest of prizes, a lobster - from its rocky fastness. Where the tidal range is at its greatest, it is not uncommon for quite large delicacies to become stranded in rock pools.