Drake Magazine Summer 2020 Socotra Slider

Photos by Ray Montoya

Stranded on Socotra

Daily Drake, Destination travel, Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Summer 2020, Lifestyle, Saltwater Fly FishingLeave a comment

On March 13, 60-year-old retired schoolteacher Ray Montoya arrived on the Arabian Archipelago of Socotra, intent on landing what is thought to be the first permit on a fly from the war-torn country of Yemen. Three weeks later, the talented fly-tyer, photographer, artist, and angler was still there, grounded like the rest of us. But Montoya is not like the rest of us. A Navy veteran, he grew up in a third-generation military family, bouncing around the U.S. as a kid. He became a teacher after college, and in the late ’90s began teaching internationally with his wife, Kerry.

A FLY ROD, NOT A GILLNET, IS HOW TO CHASE PERMIT

PHOTO BY COREY KRUITBOSCH

Hoping for a Net Loss

Conservation, Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Fall 2019, The Put InLeave a comment

The push to ban gillnets in Belize At a Guatemalan fish-processing plant in spring of 2019, a team of journalists saw something that would make any flats angler cringe: several 80-gallon drums filled with salted permit. The journalists, from the Belizean newspaper The Reporter, were there to examine Guatemala’s shark-fishing trade, and the problems it…

A Magnificent Seven

Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Fall 2018, Lodges, Outfitters, and Guides, The Put In, U.S. places1 Comment

Craft beer and flyfishing go together like Jell-O shots and bachelorette parties. In the fishier towns in America you’ll find angling-themed beers of every taste and style, from Trout Slayer Wheat Ale (Big Sky Brewing, Missoula, MT) to Cutthroat Porter (Odell Brewing, Fort Collins, CO) to Steelhead Extra Pale Ale (Mad River Brewing, Humboldt County,…

Washington’s Wild Sky Remains Wild

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Skykomish River hydropower project nuked Last year the South Fork of the Skykomish River joined the ranks of the down-and-out on American Rivers’ 10 most endangered rivers list. The reason: Snohomish County PUD had proposed to build a dubious run-of-the-river hydropower project at Sunset Falls that would have diverted a 1.1 mile section of water,…

Pete Soverel works for Salmon Conservation

At the Helm- Salmon Conservation

Conservation, Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Spring 2018, Fly Fishing Industry, Salmon/SteelheadLeave a comment

The status of wild winter-steelhead populations can drive the most committed steelheaders to seek refuge near the fringes of Salmo Mykiss’ geographical range—fewer anglers can mean a few more fish. So, after 19 hours of driving, I pull my truck into the dark driveway descending to a rustic lakefront cabin. Towering cedars block what scant…

Yellowstone River is in trouble near Paradise Valley.

Yellowstoned – Paradise Valley Trouble

Conservation, Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Winter 2017, Policy/Politics/LawsLeave a comment

THE YELLOWSTONE RIVER’S pristine headwaters are tucked into some of the most remote land in the Lower 48, draining roughly 70,000 square miles across Wyoming and Montana. These wild waters serve as a stronghold for native Yellowstone cutthroat, and, combined with Yellowstone Lake, make up the largest inland population of cutthroat in the world.

Save Thompson River Steelhead

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With runs hovering in the hundreds, British Columbia’s Thompson River steelhead have been in steady decline since the ’90s. The imperiled stock hit a record low last fall, when returns were estimated at less than 200 fish. Despite the numbers, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (“DFO”) permitted commercial and First Nations gillnet chum salmon fisheries during…

Pebble Mine will effect the whole ecosystem.

Reignited – Pebble Mine Project

Conservation, Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Winter 2017, Policy/Politics/Laws, Salmon/SteelheadLeave a comment

The proposed Pebble Mine, subject of 20 years of controversy, 2.2 million public comments, a dozen Congressional hearings, multiple documentary films, media campaigns, ballot initiatives, lawsuits, and the most ubiquitous sticker in all of fishingdom, is back on the table. Seemingly the result of one 30-minute meeting between two men: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and…

PN3

Power to the Pound Net

Daily Drake1 Comment

Can commercial netting coexist with Columbia River salmon recovery? A Pound net is a wall of netting that stretches from the shoreline out into a river, funneling fish into a compartment called the “heart,” where fish are trapped but not killed. The nets were once common on the Columbia River, but were banned in Washington…

Swinging for Spring on the Skagit

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NOAA solicits public comment for steelhead fishery proposal Home to a revered population of ESA-listed wild winter steelhead, Washington’s Skagit River and its main tributary, the Sauk, have been closed to spring catch-and-release fishing since 2011. That could all change in early 2018, however, as NOAA is considering granting a harvest permit to the Washington…

The real story behind that giant trevally footage

Bird Eaters – Giant Trevally in the Seychelles

Drake Magazine Back Issue Content Winter 2017, Fly Fishing Art, Fly Fishing IndustryLeave a comment

Unless you’ve been living under a triggerfish for the past few months, you’re likely one of the millions of viewers who’ve watched those incredible teasers of bird-eating giant trevally in the Seychelles, which hit the Interwebs on Oct. 26. The footage was captured by a four-person crew from the BBC’s Natural History Unit during fall…