Munchies

GARLIC BUTTER BEACH CLAMS MUNCHIES

DIY FLY GUY FRED DAVIS’S GO-TO FORAGED SEAFOOD FEAST

Photo. Fred Davis

On the beaches of southern Oman, everything is bigger, and the clams and ghost crabs are no exception. As the tide drops, some clams get washed out of the sand in the shore break and the ghost crabs drag them up the beach and wait for the sun to do its trick and, quite literally, cook them. The clams open, they’re dead and the crabs feast. As you slowly walk the beaches in search of permit, it’s a straightforward forage for that night’s dinner. I learnt this recipe on the beaches of Peru and it has been used on bivalves in Tierra del Fuego, Chile, South Africa, Qatar and now Oman.

The Recipe:

• A big whack of butter, 5 – 8 tablespoons • A handful of grated/finely diced garlic • The juice of half a lemon • A potful of big old Omani beach clams* • A handful of chopped fresh parsley, chives or any green garnish of your choice ** • 1 cup white wine ** • Wedges from the other half of the lemon for garnish

The Method:

1. The first thing you MUST do is to put your clams in a bucket of clean water (add two or three spoons of salt) and let them sit for at least an hour. This purges the sand from the clams. 2 In your pot, melt about half your butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until you get that sexy garlic butter smell. 3. Add wine and lemon juice and get the bubbles going. 4. Add clams and the rest of the butter. Put the lid on and steam until clams have opened. 5. Throw out any unopened clams. Let the good clams cool a bit. Sprinkle the green stuff on top and squeeze lemon wedges, if desired. Serve with a lekker white bread, like a French baguette. *This can be substituted for any clam or even SA’s own white mussels.

** On this Oman trip we didn’t have any of these. It doesn’t matter, they were still delicious!

PERMISSION SLIPS

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS ONLY ONE PERMIT. BUT, AS FLY FISHING HORIZONS BROADENED AND WE STARTED PEEKING UNDER THE INDIAN AND PACIFIC OCEAN’S SKIRTS, THERE WERE SUDDENLY MORE. WHILE BEARING IN MIND THAT ALL PERMIT ARE TRACHINOTUS, BUT NOT ALL TRACHINOTUS ARE PERMIT, LET’S HAVE A QUICK, NON-SCIENTIFIC RUNDOWN OF WHAT MIGHT COUNT IN THE QUEST FOR FLATS FISHING’S HOLY GRAIL!

By Fred Davis. Photos. Jako Lucas, Stu Webb, Christiaan Pretorius, Corey Knowlton, Pieter Scholtz

Right: Trachinotus falcatus - “The Permit”

The OG who needs no introduction! This is the fish that has inspired generations. Found in warms waters of the Western Atlantic, volumes have been written about how to catch them and how hard it is. The quintessential situation to fish for them is when they’re up on the shallow flats digging and tailing in search of crustaceans.

Nick Bowles

Above: Trachinotus africanus - “Africanus”

Africanus is the street fighter of the group. They are found in the gnarliest of settings; feeding on shallow and exposed mussel banks in the surf wash around areas that are often barely accessible on foot, they are best targeted by boat. They inhabit the tropical and temperate Indian Ocean.

Below: Trachinotus blochii - “The Indo-Pacific Permit”

If I’m being honest, this is the prettiest of the bunch. Found across tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, this permit is just as fussy and has almost identical behaviours to its Atlantic kin. The burnt golden yellow fins frame an almost pearl body that makes them picture perfect, whether the backdrop is a palm-fringed island or a dusty desert.

Peter Coetzee

Left: Trachinotus anak - “The Pumpkin Nose”

The Australian permit. They look like a blochii that swam into a wall. The overly round nose is its defining feature. Found in the tropics and subtropics of Australasia, they are most commonly targeted on shallow sand flats of Northern Australia. ALL ARE KNOWN TO ELICIT THE FOLLOWING RESPONSES IN FLY ANGLERS: • PANIC •SHAKY HANDS, • WEAK KNEES • POOR PRESENTATIONS • A PROPENSITY TO SPEND STUPID AMOUNTS OF MONEY IN THE PURSUIT OF THEM • AN EMOTIONAL HIGH UPON CAPTURING ONE • CHILDISH EXCITEMENT • ADDICTION

Pieter Scholtz

Above: Trachinotus maxillosus - “Guinea Permit”

The Atlantic mystery, found along the southern bulge of West Africa, from Senegal down to Northern Angola, this fish certainly looks the part with big sickle fins and tail. Whether or not it’s consistently targetable on the flats is the question? Pieter Scholtz’s one below took a Clouser.

Corey Knowlton

Trachinotus mookalee - “The Indian Permit”

Most specimens on record have come from the coastline of the sub-continent and very little is known about this species. However, its similarity to blochii in shape, colour and distribution begs the question as to whether or not some of the blochii caught might be mookalee. Maybe that permit I saw behaving really strangely in Oman was actually a mookalee?

THE BOOK – A PASSION FOR PERMIT

Tormented by Trachinotus? You can deny the sickle-finned demon and spend a lifetime fighting it OR you can give in and develop a Mother Superior-level habit. That’s what we imagine author Jonathan Olch did over the decades he spent fishing for permit. As a result his book, A Passion for Permit is by far the most comprehensive book on the subject out there. Featuring 20 global permit experts, it spans 1,120 pages in two volumes including 1000 colour photographs, maps and diagrams. Expect all the detail you can handle, from anatomy to biology, food sources, preferred habitats, tactics for catching them, plus over 100 fly patterns. apassionforpermit.com