CATCHING HIS DRIFT FISHING: Tom Loe takes a new approach to the old, hard-to-access Owens River.

By Dave Strege

The Orange County Register from Bishop
Feb. 25, 1999

The Lower Owens River is quiet and peaceful without a soul in sight. Not surprising, really. Willows, wild rose and cottonwood trees choke the banks, leaving shore anglers no way in.

With only limited access by foot, the meandering river is virtually virgin fishing territory. Every turn reveals another prime holding spot for rainbow and German brown trout.

Fact is, the entire river looks fishy. You think, if only there were a way to get to those fishing spots.

Well, there is.

This winter, for the first time, anglers can experience the solitude and fishing on the Lower Owens River while floating down in a guided drift boat.

A drift boat on the Owens, imagine that.

Tom Loe did.

Loe bought a custom-made drift boat, became a licensed guide and in December began Sierra Drifters, the first and only guided drift boat service on the Owens River.

Finding uncrowded, productive fishing holes is rare these days, but Loe has found one.

"You don't see another angler, there's no trash, no footprints, you're completely by your self and you access river that is untouched except for a handful of locals that float down during the duck season," Loe said.

Inviting, isn't it?

Loe's first booking was in January and largely by word of mouth, he slowly has increased the amount of customers he has introduced to the Owens River.

Loe, 40, spent 30 years hunting and fishing the Eastern Sierra. A commercial swordfish fisherman for 20 years, Loe said he needed a place to fish after the season ended in November, so he chose the Lower Owens, which is open to fishing all year.

Frustrated by having to hack through heavy vegetation to fish the river, Loe thought, "What the heck, let's put a boat on this thing and go for it."
For 12 winters he has been going for it, fishing the river by boat and learning the nuances of the flows and fishing.

In October, Loe who with wife Michele is a Crowley Lake resident, sold his swordfish boat because of declining catches and in November decided to start the guide business.

"Some people in town were skeptical; I think I was somewhat skeptical, but I don't know how to drive or pilot a boat," said Gary Gunsolley of Brock's Fly fishing Specialist in Bishop. "I was amazed the first time I went out. I didn't think anybody could do that.

"The feedback I'm getting is, you get to fish a body of water, you can't fish unless you're in a boat, and that appeals to people. Everybody has caught fish and been happy with that.

"But the No. 1 thing is, no one fishes it. It's getting away from the hubbub. I didn't know you could market something like that."

Loe is finding out he can and uses this marketing slogan: "A new approach to an old river."

A Coast Guard-licensed captain, Loe expertly negotiated his 16-foot, McKenzie-style, flat-bottomed aluminum drift boat down river Saturday with Don Burmingham of Duarte as his client.

The boat has two bucket seats in the front, where anglers also stand and cast. A raised platform at the bow acts as a casting tray for fly-anglers.
The anglers fish downstream. Loe sits behind them and uses long oars to paddle the boat into fishing positions. Then, with a pulley system, he lowers a stern anchor to hold the boat in place.

A forward-sinking fly line is used to get the streamer to the bottom, where the fish feed. The streamers resemble small sculpin, carp and squaw fish, which are in the river.

Anglers cast or drift their lines back, wait for the streamer to sink to the bottom and strip the line in upstream with short strokes. Then they hold on.
Loe said the German browns are wild, and the rainbow trout stocked by the Department of Fish and Game become wild after a year in the river. Alpers trout are stocked too, so some can weigh up to 10 pounds.

"Eleven inches and a little better than half a pound, that's the average fish," Loe said. "There's not too many smaller than that, though."

What the smaller trout lack in size, they make up for in fight. Incredibly, these trout aggressively shake their heads and pull hard, having built their muscles fighting the current.

Burmingham found that out.

"Yee-haw," Loe yelped as Burmingham set the hook on another trout.
It wasn't a trophy, but it sure felt like one to Burmingham who set the hook on another trout.

"I can't believe the size and the way these fish fight," Burmingham said. "It's amazing. They hit, and you go, 'This is it, this is the (big) one. I've said that about six times today."

An experienced fly-fisher, Burmingham caught and released maybe a dozen rainbows and browns--all 11 or so inches. He also had countless other strikes.

By day's end, Burmingham figured he had made 200 casts. So many fishy spots, so little time.

The trips last five to six hours, and Loe never runs out of hot spots. He uses five runs within a 12-mile stretch of the Owens between Five Bridges Road north of Bishop and Collins Road south of town.

Anglers get plenty of fishing time. And Loe gets plenty of exercise.

"I keep in shape,"he said. "I don't have to worry about getting fat. I love it. It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it."