 |
| Gary Loomis lives right on the shore of the North Fork of the Lewis River. He knows it as well as he knows his own living room. Gary says knowledge of water is one of the keys to consistent steelhead fishing success. |
A Guy Named Gary: Part 2
By Stan Fagerstrom
As I detailed in my last column, few fishermen I’ve known over the past half century possess the same level of steelhead fishing skills as does Gary Loomis, the renowned rod builder from Washington State.
As I mentioned, Gary’s recipe for successful steelhead fishing has five main points. They are: Presentation, good bait, knowledge of water, quality equipment and timing. I asked the founder of famous G.Loomis Rods to expand on each of these points.
“I'm often asked how I managed to catch so many steelhead," Loomis says. "One of the main reasons was I fished hardest when the fish were available. I didn't waste time if they weren’t"
If you’re familiar with the wonderful critters Pacific Northwest anglers call steelhead, you’re also aware they are migratory fish. They may be here today, but gone tomorrow. Even so, records maintained over the years by fish management officials make it entirely possible to give you a good idea of when prospects will be best.
Loomis suggests newcomers to Pacific Northwest steelheading contact the Departments of Wildlife in Washington and Oregon. Both states have a statistical compilation of times when most steelhead are caught and the rivers they came from. You'll find, for example, popular Southwest Washington rivers like the Cowlitz, Kalama or the Elochoman have two peak periods. Winter steelheading is best in December and January. The best summer fishing comes in July and early August. Concentrate on those periods and you bend the odds in your favor.
"There's also no substitute for knowledge of water," Loomis says. "Pick one stretch of river you know contains fish, then stick with it until you learn everything about it. Learn where the holding spots are and where the obstructions are located."
For more than three decades I lived about 10 minutes away from Southwest Washington’s Toutle River. This beautiful stream had its beginnings from Spirit Lake at the base of Mount St. Helens. I fished it at every opportunity before the mountain blew its top and destroyed the Toutle River in the process.
I mention this because my experience on the Toutle proved for me the truth of what Gary has to say. Like the anglers who try to catch them, steelhead are creatures of habit. Find one in a certain spot today and chances are excellent there will be others in the exact same location another time. Don’t screw around covering 100 miles of water. Learn one stretch really well. Don’t start running all over the place until you do.
You'd expect someone who has been associated with building rods to stress the need for quality equipment. That’s one of the primary reasons G.Loomis rods enjoy the worldwide reputation they now have. God blesses each of us in different ways. Gary will tell you he had difficulty working with words as a student. Give him something dealing with mechanics of one kind or another and his skill level went up off the charts.
I did my first steelhead fishing way back prior to World War II. There is precious little comparison between the wondrous equipment I have to fish with today and the miserable gear I had to work with at that time. Some deep thinker said somewhere that “what one man can dream about, another man can do.” Gary Loomis turned the dreams lots of us had where rods were concerned into reality.
So what does he have to say about equipment. "You go fishing for recreation," Gary says. "You don't want a trailer hitch that flops off the ball or a jet pump on your boat that won't operate. The same thing applies to your rods and reels. If you've got to fight them all the time it takes half the fun out of fishing."
In my final column in this series about Gary I’ll share some of his thoughts about how important presentation and having the right bait is to catching steelhead consistently. Watch for it beginning September 1.
To Be Continued
|
 |
| It's in the bag! Gary's fishing partner nets a steelhead for him. His love for steelhead fishing was what got Loomis into the rod building business. |
 |
|
To check out any of Stan's other great articles, click here. |
|
|
