“I was fortunate in that my mother did not protest when I decided, at age nine, to give up Catholic Mass in pursuit of fish. Honestly, I think she was ecstatic to have me out of the house. Little did I realise then, that I was simply replacing one doctrine for another. In the beginning, as in all beginnings, it was simple. I chased trout and bluegills armed with a Fenwick fiberglass rod, a Pflueger fly reel loaded with an expired double tapered line, and an aluminum fly box, which held no more than two dozen flies, half of which were never removed from their spring metal clips. I caught fish with a simple Hare’s ear, and I was happy with these few basic patterns…until I wasn’t.”
From a one-fly boy to a multi-pattern junkie and now a believer in simplicity, when it comes to fly selection, Omani permit whisperer Ray Montoya has gone full circle. Read his story in issue 14 of The Mission.