N.A. (Ren) Monllor

I feel like I sort of kept pretty quiet about myself when I first posted my first reply, then Harry wrote stating he felt like he "knew" me a little better; and I feel like maybe I could have opened up a little more, so here it goes.... Early childhood was done in Harlem, N.Y.C., during the race riots, not pretty!! Sent to Florida for a summer (age 13), for safety reasons, mine! Returned to Fort Lee, N.J. where my parents had moved while I was away. I had never fished but always had a need to. No family member would ever take me. At 17, I took it upon myself to learn so I picked up the first magazine I ever saw on the subject, Fly Fisherman Magazine. A lot less ads back then. I slept with it under my pillow, knowing someday I would learn to cast. I purchased my first rod soon afterwards, a Browning 8 ft., 6 wt. and then two weeks later a Fenwick 6 and a half footer, 5 wt. My first year was a tough one. Learning to tie flies, and cast a rod was tough, but I soon learned to let my rod do the work and follow its rhythm. Let the rod talk to me and me listen to what it was saying. I fished only dries and nymphs that first year at the Flatbrook up in Stokes Forrest, in N.J.. Did okay with the dries, not so well with the nymphs. Within a year of getting my first and only two rods, I began to venture further from home. I started fishing Roscoe and the small creeks in Allentown and Bethlehem, Pa.. One day, in Roscoe or might have been Livingston Manor, I entered a real small shop and saw a rod made out of something that wasn't glass or graphite. I picked it up and it instantly became an extension of my hand, it had its own soul. I asked the proprietor if I could take it outside for a moment and the love affair with cane began. It was a used Garrison 212 and at around $800.00 I knew that I would be leaving without it, but that I'd have one someday. Maybe two years later I came upon a copy of Mr. Garrisons book and made the purchase. The math scared me, I felt I would never get the chance to learn and understand the math and I never did anything with the book except read and re-read it more times than I could count. Wherever I went the book was always close by. I just knew that "Someday.......". Many, many years went by. I still had the book when I moved to Florida 15 years ago. Sadly, my home caught fire and we, the children and I, lost everything we owned except, the car and my mandolin and guitar. I went to put the guitar in the trunk and saw my "Book". Hmph!! It was time... Once we re-settled in a new place, I called an engineer friend of mine and asked if he knew what the math was and could he teach me. He said yes and two six-packs later I finally understood what Mr. Garrison was talking about. I sold my instruments, purchased the materials needed to make forms and buy cane and have not looked back since. Two years ago, the Big Guy Upstairs made it possible for me to try to get off of disability and start my own business through a government program and Social Security. It's been a tough and sometimes scary road, but I figure, I'm doing what I love and I'm doing it with all my heart. I've babbled enough about my least favorite subject, myself. Thank you all for having put up with me for the few years I've been around.

Ren

http://monllorrods.com/
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