Stan Fagerstrom
10-28-2002, 05:48 PM
You've Got To Learn To
"Read The River"
Part 3
By Stan Fagerstrom
In the past two columns I've detailed what some of the region's top guides have to say about river reading. This time around I'd like to share some of the thoughts of a man who is one of the best steelhead anglers I've ever seen in action.
Lots of readers will recognize his name. I say they will because you'll find his name on some of the finest rods that can be purchased in this country. I'm talking about Gary Loomis. Anybody who has fished long enough to know salmon eggs from shinola knows about G. Loomis Rods. What you might not know is that Gary, the founder of the rod company that bears his name, is also one of the top steelhead anglers ever to walk the banks of a river.
http://www.ifish.net/sfglo.jpg
Gary Loomis was catching steelhead like this beauty before he ever got into the business of manufacturing fishing rods.
I've known Gary Loomis for a long, long time. I was aware of the reputation he had established as a steelheading expert before he ever started his rod company. I've always felt that the skills Gary had as a steelhead angler were a great help when he set out to build rods. He didn't have to take someone else's word for what goes into a good steelhead rod. He had "been there and done that."
So what does a fishing legend like Loomis have to say about river reading and steelhead fishing in general? For one thing he urges steelhead anglers to obtain all the knowledge they can before ever heading for the river. "Don't wait until you get to the river to start getting a handle on what to expect," Gary says. "There are a number of things you can find out before you ever get near the water."
When I asked him for specifics, he suggested talking to other fishermen, visiting local fishing clubs or checking with sporting goods stores. "You can almost always find out which river is producing most of the fish at a given time," he says. "The outdoor editor of the local newspaper is another good source for up-to-the minute information."
When I first talked to Gary Loomis about steelhead fishing the Internet didn't exist. There were no columns like the one you're reading right now. Today Jennie Martin's www.ifish.net (http://www.ifish.net) is an excellent source of information with regard to the area's river conditions and who's catching what where. The lady who maintains this web site provides a constant fountain of information for area anglers. That's not news to the ever-increasing number of fishermen now utilizing the valuable resource this web site provides.
Gary Loomis had something else to say with regard to fishing in this region. The veteran rod builder maintains non-boat anglers don't have to worry about finding the best spots on a river even if you just arrived in the Pacific Northwest the day before yesterday. "Watch where the cars are parked when you drive along a river," he advises. "It's a cinch most of the cars will be where fishing is best. If the fishing is poor, there won't be many cars around."
Loomis favors the tailout of a hole when he is fishing winter steelhead. He figures the fish will be less spooky if the water is discolored. "I like to have a stream flow of about three miles an hour," he says. "That's about the speed you can walk at a fairly fast pace."
Gary says something else you should keep in mind is which of the rivers in the area you plan to fish come back into shape or even stay in shape when everything else is unfishable. The same sources mentioned earlier can provide that kind of information. On some of the popular rivers of Southwest Washington, the Cowlitz and the North Fork of the Lewis are examples, upstream dams catch excess runoff and often keep the lower stretches of the river clearer than other area waters. Some smaller streams, like the productive Elochoman in Wahkiakum County, may go out of shape quickly but they also come back in much faster than the larger rivers.
A question newcomers to steelhead fishing often ask is in what depth water are you most likely to find fish. Loomis prefers water of from 4 to 10-feet. He pays more attention to water clarity than its depth. "Reading a river includes checking water clarity," Loomis says. "If the water is dirty I often use some kind of bobber along with my eggs and I tie a dab of fluorescent chartreuse yarn or a combination of flame and chartreuse just above my hook."
I've fished with Gary Loomis and I'm not guessing as to his ability to put fish on the bank or in the boat. It pays to listen to what this man who has taken dozens of steelhead of more than 20 pounds has to say on the subject. "No matter how well you read a river or how much you know about it," he says, "proper presentation of your bait or lure is still the answer to catching fish consistently. Most newcomers fish steelhead with a line that's too heavy. I use 6 or 8- pound test. I'd rather hook three times as many fish and lose some of them than hook just one I knew I was going to catch. That's what it boils down to if you use heavy line."
I recall writing a newspaper column one time about a two-day trip Loomis and a couple of friends made to the Cowlitz River. The trio hooked 30 fish one day and 24 the next. That many fish in two days is more steelhead than many will get hold of in the next five years.
http://www.ifish.net/sfgloa.jpg
Another steelhead winds up in the net of the founder of G.Loomis Rods. Gary Loomis says bait presentation is the single greatest key to consistently catching steelhead.
That's about the size of it. In this three part series I've shared what some of this region's top guides have to say about learning to "read a river." Any way you slice it, there's no substitute for experience where steelheading is concerned. That's why it's always advisable to hire an experienced guide for the first trip or two you make on a steelhead river with which you're not familiar.
An experienced guide is a "speed reader' when it comes to sizing up a steelhead stream. Pay attention to what he tells you, ask him to clarify things you're uncertain about. In doing so you'll have taken the best course possible in doing some fast river reading of your own.
Be assured it really does pay to learn how to "read a river." If you aren't convinced of that now you will be as you discover what it can do to help you put more fish on the bank or in your boat.
[ 10-28-2002, 05:49 PM: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]
"Read The River"
Part 3
By Stan Fagerstrom
In the past two columns I've detailed what some of the region's top guides have to say about river reading. This time around I'd like to share some of the thoughts of a man who is one of the best steelhead anglers I've ever seen in action.
Lots of readers will recognize his name. I say they will because you'll find his name on some of the finest rods that can be purchased in this country. I'm talking about Gary Loomis. Anybody who has fished long enough to know salmon eggs from shinola knows about G. Loomis Rods. What you might not know is that Gary, the founder of the rod company that bears his name, is also one of the top steelhead anglers ever to walk the banks of a river.
http://www.ifish.net/sfglo.jpg
Gary Loomis was catching steelhead like this beauty before he ever got into the business of manufacturing fishing rods.
I've known Gary Loomis for a long, long time. I was aware of the reputation he had established as a steelheading expert before he ever started his rod company. I've always felt that the skills Gary had as a steelhead angler were a great help when he set out to build rods. He didn't have to take someone else's word for what goes into a good steelhead rod. He had "been there and done that."
So what does a fishing legend like Loomis have to say about river reading and steelhead fishing in general? For one thing he urges steelhead anglers to obtain all the knowledge they can before ever heading for the river. "Don't wait until you get to the river to start getting a handle on what to expect," Gary says. "There are a number of things you can find out before you ever get near the water."
When I asked him for specifics, he suggested talking to other fishermen, visiting local fishing clubs or checking with sporting goods stores. "You can almost always find out which river is producing most of the fish at a given time," he says. "The outdoor editor of the local newspaper is another good source for up-to-the minute information."
When I first talked to Gary Loomis about steelhead fishing the Internet didn't exist. There were no columns like the one you're reading right now. Today Jennie Martin's www.ifish.net (http://www.ifish.net) is an excellent source of information with regard to the area's river conditions and who's catching what where. The lady who maintains this web site provides a constant fountain of information for area anglers. That's not news to the ever-increasing number of fishermen now utilizing the valuable resource this web site provides.
Gary Loomis had something else to say with regard to fishing in this region. The veteran rod builder maintains non-boat anglers don't have to worry about finding the best spots on a river even if you just arrived in the Pacific Northwest the day before yesterday. "Watch where the cars are parked when you drive along a river," he advises. "It's a cinch most of the cars will be where fishing is best. If the fishing is poor, there won't be many cars around."
Loomis favors the tailout of a hole when he is fishing winter steelhead. He figures the fish will be less spooky if the water is discolored. "I like to have a stream flow of about three miles an hour," he says. "That's about the speed you can walk at a fairly fast pace."
Gary says something else you should keep in mind is which of the rivers in the area you plan to fish come back into shape or even stay in shape when everything else is unfishable. The same sources mentioned earlier can provide that kind of information. On some of the popular rivers of Southwest Washington, the Cowlitz and the North Fork of the Lewis are examples, upstream dams catch excess runoff and often keep the lower stretches of the river clearer than other area waters. Some smaller streams, like the productive Elochoman in Wahkiakum County, may go out of shape quickly but they also come back in much faster than the larger rivers.
A question newcomers to steelhead fishing often ask is in what depth water are you most likely to find fish. Loomis prefers water of from 4 to 10-feet. He pays more attention to water clarity than its depth. "Reading a river includes checking water clarity," Loomis says. "If the water is dirty I often use some kind of bobber along with my eggs and I tie a dab of fluorescent chartreuse yarn or a combination of flame and chartreuse just above my hook."
I've fished with Gary Loomis and I'm not guessing as to his ability to put fish on the bank or in the boat. It pays to listen to what this man who has taken dozens of steelhead of more than 20 pounds has to say on the subject. "No matter how well you read a river or how much you know about it," he says, "proper presentation of your bait or lure is still the answer to catching fish consistently. Most newcomers fish steelhead with a line that's too heavy. I use 6 or 8- pound test. I'd rather hook three times as many fish and lose some of them than hook just one I knew I was going to catch. That's what it boils down to if you use heavy line."
I recall writing a newspaper column one time about a two-day trip Loomis and a couple of friends made to the Cowlitz River. The trio hooked 30 fish one day and 24 the next. That many fish in two days is more steelhead than many will get hold of in the next five years.
http://www.ifish.net/sfgloa.jpg
Another steelhead winds up in the net of the founder of G.Loomis Rods. Gary Loomis says bait presentation is the single greatest key to consistently catching steelhead.
That's about the size of it. In this three part series I've shared what some of this region's top guides have to say about learning to "read a river." Any way you slice it, there's no substitute for experience where steelheading is concerned. That's why it's always advisable to hire an experienced guide for the first trip or two you make on a steelhead river with which you're not familiar.
An experienced guide is a "speed reader' when it comes to sizing up a steelhead stream. Pay attention to what he tells you, ask him to clarify things you're uncertain about. In doing so you'll have taken the best course possible in doing some fast river reading of your own.
Be assured it really does pay to learn how to "read a river." If you aren't convinced of that now you will be as you discover what it can do to help you put more fish on the bank or in your boat.
[ 10-28-2002, 05:49 PM: Message edited by: Stan Fagerstrom ]