The Taming of Troutzilla
from the Conejo Valley Fly Fisher
Jimmy Toy and I were floating down the Lower Owens (below the Wild
Trout Area) with Sierra Drifters guide Tom Loe. I had heard about the
great winter streamer fishing here and had decided to give it a shot,
though I had to twist Jimmy’s arm a bit to get him to come along. Good
thing he did…
We camped below the reservoir and met up with Tom in Bishop the next
day. He had the boat and tackle ready to go. Tom has ten different runs
mapped along this section of the Owens which oxbows so that a full day
of fishing might only take a mile or two. This allows him to
"rest" sections between trips. Flows were about 125, low for
the Owens but making for great fishing.
Part of the plan for me was to learn more about streamer fishing.
While nymphing produces results here, according to Tom, streamers are
the way to go for big fish. We were fishing 200-grain sink tips on 5-6
wt rods. We used one fly all day, the Loe designed Spruce – A-Bou .
Tom’s boat is set up like a Rogue River boat with two forward side by
side seats for anglers, which worked surprisingly well, as long as we
communicated when casting. We were able to fish simultaneously, working
opposite sides of the feeding lanes.
Quickly we were into lots of rainbows – most planted by DFG and
Alpers – that were about 12"+, though they were strong fish.
Takes ranged from arm jarring hits to "spongy" soft. A strip
set, but not an over quick strip jerk, was the way to hook fish. Tom
pointed out trout holding areas and gave a quick lesson on reading the
water. I managed to hook and land a nice 6-pound rainbow that bore a DFG
tag.
Bill's 6 lb fish
After a lunch break, we continued to fish the bends. At one point
Jimmy got into a meat hole and was getting bumped on every cast. We
managed to boat 63 fish for the day between us.
Later in the afternoon we came to a hole that Tom said harbored a
very large hen rainbow that he had named "Troutzilla". Tom had
hooked the fish once, as had a customer, but the fish had not been
landed. Jimmy and I looked at each other, ‘guide hype’, I was
thinking… I had had my big fish, so it was Jimmy’s turn to hunt
Troutzilla while I watched. Tom had Jimmy fishing the holding water..
what he calls the "neutral zone" between foam lines. After
about a dozen casts with less activity than we had had elsewhere, Tom
said, "This is great, the lack of smaller fish means she’s still
here – she chased away the other fish." ‘More guide hype’,
I thought. Jimmy made a beautiful long cast up river and was stripping
in (we varied strips from 3-7 with a pause, faster in slower water,
slower in faster water). His rod trip vibrated, then plunged downward.
"That’s her," shouted Tom, reaching back to release the
anchor to slip downstream in the hole to give Jimmy a better spot to
fight the fish. Jimmy wasn’t convinced until he got a look at the
fish. IT WAS HUGE. Tom coached Jimmy on fighting the monster, not
palming the reel but guiding the fish out of the faster water. After a
ten-minute fight, Jimmy had the fish next to the boat. Tom slipped his
big long handled boat net under the fish and lifted. Half of the fish
was hanging outside the net! It was a DFG tagged female in good
condition, at least 25" long and very fat... an estimated 10
pounds. It was Jimmy’s biggest trout ever.
Troutzilla
I took the photos, Tom revived and released the fish, and we decided
that that was the day. Tom rowed us down river to his takeout spot as we
relived the Taming of Troutzilla.
Tom's going to need a bigger net!
