Western
Outdoor News
April 7, 2000
Sound
Off (letters to the editor)
One Fine
Trip
I am a
first year subscriber and very happy with the paper.
I am not an avid hunter and am most interested in the fishing
reports, in particular the Sierra activity.
The April 1999 Sierra Trout Opener supplement concentrated on the
Sierra fishing opener and was packed with valuable information, in
particular the piece written about Tom Loe’s Sierra Drifters Guide
Service.
I
recently spent a day with Tom for some action-packed fly fishing.
The trip was originally booked as a trip down the Lower Owens
River. As the date crept
closer, Tom noted with exceptional honesty that the river was flowing
fast and high and fishing would be marginal at best.
In substitution, he recommended fly fishing Lake Crowley.
What an exceptional recommendation it turned out to be!
Tom was
definitely set up for catching fish.
His boat was perfect, with plenty of casting deck to the bow and
stern. Fly rods and gear
were provided. The fly
patterns (which were worth their weight in gold) were all hand-tied and
set up on hand-tied leaders.
Being
only an average fly fisherman, I used the time on the water to pick
Tom’s brain and learn all I could from him.
After a quick lesson in fly casting (which I definitely needed,
having never fly fished still water), we immediately began to catch
fish.
As the
day progressed, we noticed a steady progression of float tubers creeping
in trying to figure out what the heck we were doing to out fish them 5
to 1. It was quite humorous
to hear a couple of vulgar comments from the gallery as we caught fish.
To make
a long story short, we caught 39 nice rainbow trout with most in the
16-20 inch range. (Not bad for an eight-hour day drinking beer and
shooting the B.S.) I was
told that husband and wife clients the day before caught about 50 fish.
We released all our fish after posing for some pictures. I was actually bummed when the final fish was caught and we
had to fire up the engine and return to the marina, putting an end to
the day.
I was
very impressed with Tom and his guide service.
He runs an extremely knowledgeable and professional outfit. I am already planning another trip to the Lower Owens this
coming winter.
Keep up
the great Sierra coverage and I look forward to seeing you at the
Double-Haul-In-The-Fall this year.
Jeff
Wenger
Rancho
Cucamonga
