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Part 1
The guy who has taken over as director of sales & marketing at Mack’s Lure has a last name that’s recognized wherever anglers wrap their hands around a fishing rod.
It doesn’t take many words to explain why. Hear the name “Loomis” and any knowledgeable angler almost immediately connects it to some of the world’s best known fishing rods. Most know these rods were developed by a dynamic guy named Gary Loomis. As was recently announced, Bobby Loomis is the man now directing sales & marketing at Mack’s Lure. What you may not know is that Bobby is the nephew of Gary Loomis, the founder of G.Loomis Rods.
I can tell you something else that isn’t readily apparent. The new Mack’s Lure executive has probably spent more time than anybody watching and learning from his uncle. Something else that isn’t nearly as well known where G.Loomis rods are concerned is that Gary Loomis himself is one of the most successful steelhead anglers ever to drift a bait or lure in the fast flowing rivers of Southwest Washington State.
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| "Get him in a little closer, Unc, and we've got him!" Bobby Loomis gets ready with a landing net as his uncle Gary Loomis battles a steelhead. |
Gary Loomis never does anything half way. It was his burning interest in steelhead fishing that got him into the rod building industry in the first place.
I can say that with conviction because I’ve shared both a bank and boat with him myself. As a former fishing columnist for daily newspapers in both Longview and Vancouver, Washington I also studied and reported on his activities as an angler and a rod builder for decades.
Did any of his uncle’s experience rub off on his nephew? You can darn well believe it! No one has spent more time listening and learning from a fishing legend than Bobby Loomis. He’s a cracking good angler himself. He knows what he’s talking about because he’s been there and done it!
I know other guys who handle sales and marketing for tackle companies. Some of them can’t wait for the weekend so they can go golfing or head for the ski slopes. That’s not where you’ll find Bobby Loomis. Chances are he’ll be on a river bank or in a boat somewhere. And you’re going to see more and more evidence of that where his work with Mack’s Lure is concerned.
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| "Got him!" Lots of steelhead wind up in the net when the two anglers shown here are on the water. They are Gary and Bobby Loomis. |
I mention this because this is the first in a series of columns I’ll be doing here on steelhead fishing. That’s the area of angling endeavor where Bobby and his uncle are best known. What they both have to say provides shortcuts to your own success where the sea going rainbow are concerned.
For starters, let me say this: you’ll never put many steelhead and salmon on the bank or in the boat until you learn to know the water you’re fishing. In these next few columns I’ll share what pros like Gary and Bobby along with other Pacific Northwest steelheading experts have shown and shared with me in this regard.
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| It's great to have a chance to fish with a learn from a living legend like Gary Loomis. Bobby Loomis, Gary's nephew has had that opportunity and he's used it to develop his own angling knowledge and expertise. |
It’s easy to recall occasions I’ve seen demonstrations of what I’m writing about. I was in a boat with a guide one day as we were passed by some anglers fishing from shore. The guide kept our boat in close so we could drift under the lines of the fishermen who were casting from the bank.
Once we moved past the cluster of bank anglers, the guide had a comment. "Stan," he said, "did you notice how those guys were fishing that drift? Every darn one of them was throwing clear across the river. What they should be doing is fishing right in close to the bank. Every time you get a situation like we have today, a time when the river is dirty and climbing, the fish run in close to shore. Prospects aren't good even if you fish in tight, but out there in mid-stream where those guys are throwing they are non existent."
This is the sort of experience angling experts like Gary and Bobby Loomis know all about. I’ve done a heap of winter steelhead fishing myself. If ever there’s ever a time for doing everything you can to tip the odds in your favor, it's when you are after winter steelhead.
Getting to know how fish react to different water conditions is one way you can do it. It's something the best steelhead fishermen I know build into their approach. Doing it encompasses a whole lot more than just walking up to the river’s edge and eyeballing the water.
I’ll detail what some of those other things are in my next column. Watch for it beginning April 15
-To Be Continued-
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