WILD WIRE EXCLUSIVE: Saving fish is Loomis' new passion: Steelheader.net- Steelhead, Salmon and trout fishing

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WILD WIRE EXCLUSIVE: Saving fish is Loomis' new passion

Sept. 26, 2007

Two minutes into a recent chat with Gary Loomis, I've already gotten an indelible impression about what really matters to a man whose name is synonymous with fishing in the Pacific Northwest. Amid the hustle and bustle of the weigh-in of the 14th Annual Everett Coho Derby - where Loomis and wife Susan are manning a sign-up table for the Coastal Conservation Association - Loomis' voice cracks like a whip as he points to a handful of children playing on the grass nearby.

"See those kids? They're the ones who'll have to pay for what we've done to our fish!" Loomis says, hammering the words "what we've done to our fish". "Those are the people who are going tocome to us in 20 years and ask 'But dad, but grandpa, why don't I get to fish?' Do you want to answer that question? Hell no, you don't!"

"What we've done to our fish": It's a mantra that Loomis has repeated vociferously to anybody who'd listen for the past 10 years, first as a mouthpiece for Fish First, and now as the most visible champion of the CCA in the western United States. Surveying the derby-day crowd of 3,000 milling around the Everett Marina, Loomis repeated the message one more time: "You think this fishery is pretty good today, huh? You should've seen it in the 1950s and 60s … back when seven or eight places called themselves 'The Salmon Capitol of the World!' The fishing here in Puget Sound was incredible. It was incredible all across the West! But look at where we're headed: In 20 years, we won't even be able to fish, because of what we've done to our fish."

Loomis' passion for fish - especially steelhead - is unquestionable. As a matter of fact, it's almost comically intense: halfway through our two-hour conversation, a young angler from Marysville asks a simple question about fishing light line for steelhead, and Loomis' voices raises an octave as the stories start to tumble out. We hear about his nightly runs to the Kalama River ("I'd get off work at 4:30 and get to the river at 5:11, every night. I'd get home at 11. I ate a lot of cold dinners."), about his hundreds of days on the Lewis, about the difference between hatchery and wild fish, and about his constant quest to build his own, perfect steelhead rods.

We witness what drives Gary Loomis.

"Whatever sickness you have, I have it worse," he says jokingly to the young steelheader. "These fish have a power over me, and I won't even try to explain it. But we don't have any more chances left to save these fish. They can't save themselves. We've pushed and pushed and pushed these fish to the point of extinction, and once they're gone, they're GONE!"

Building the "war chest": The past three years have been especially eventful in Loomis' life. He's been given a Presidential commendation, received the American Sportfishing Association's "Future of Fishing Award", and been inducted into the International Gamefishing Association's Hall of Fame. His passport bears stamps from around the world - he had just returned from Russia the night before the Everett derby - and he's shaken hands with the George W. Bushes of the world.

He's taken that handshake on tour, speaking in dozens of cities throughout Washington and Oregon, communicating the CCA message to anglers young and old, and spending tireless hours drumming up local membership to help fund CCA initiatives in the Pacific Northwest. He's enjoyed some success - the Pacific Northwest's chapters' membership is 2,500 strong and growing daily - but it's not happening nearly fast enough for him.

"What we're doing is building a war chest, and an army," he says, pointing to a CCA flyer that lists the hundreds of legislative victories that the organization has won since its creation in 1977. "We're aligning ourselves with people who have fought the battles and WON! For years and years, we've been divided: this group wants barbless hooks on this stream, this group wants catch-and-release only on that stream, this other group wants something else. We're going 50 different directions, and people are getting burned out because they haven't been able to accomplish anything. Well, we've been doing it all wrong. CCA knows how to do it right. They know how to win, and they can show us how to do it."

Join CCA: Annual membership to the Coastal Conservation Association is $25. Funds raised by membership enrollment will be used directly to support CCA initiatives in the Pacific Northwest.

Loomis on the road: Loomis will speak on behalf of the Coastal Conservation Association at the following locations:

n Oct. 22 at the Moose Lodge in Centralia, 7 p.m.
n Nov. 13 at the Port Townsend Puget Sound Anglers, 7 p.m.
n Nov. 14 at the North Kitsap Puget Sound Anglers, 7 p.m.

--Joel Shangle

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http://www.ccapnw.org

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