Finally some more snow here in the Sun Valley area!
Christian Reid on a Big Wood River side channel yesterday.
Big Wood River Split shots
A few images from yesterday on the Wood. The water is incredibly clear this time of year, not to mention cold… I forgot to change the aperture on the second shot below and accidentally left the shutter open long enough to get motion blur with the fish.
Lower Big Wood River
Fall. Lower Big Wood River near Sun Valley, Idaho.
The Drake Magazine
Excited to have a two-page image in the new, winter issue, of The Drake Magazine. It's of Ketchum area guide, Zac Mayhew, and his Brittany, Duncan, during a winter storm on the Big Wood River near Sun Valley, Idaho.
Winter on the Big Wood River
A little snow finally came our way yesterday blanketing our valley in white.
Bow Bridge. Big Wood River. Hailey, Idaho. Wood River Land Trust's Draper Preserve.
Big Wood River.
Bow Bridge.
Big Wood River Winter Fishing II
Below are a few more images from a recent day on the Big Wood River.
Big Wood River
Big Wood River Winter Fishing
We just finished up with a storm that dropped nearly 20" of new snow. The snow is great for many things including just playing in it... I was able to get out on the Big Wood River for a few hours yesterday while it was coming down pretty hard.
Guide Zac Mayhew getting in a little winter-time casting on the Big Wood River, Idaho.
Green Drake Nymph & A Cherry Blossom
It's officially May and the cherry trees are blooming here and the Big Wood River has started to rise. I brought a seine net over to the Wood this evening to see how many bugs, nymphs really, I would find within a few feet from the bank. In short, I found many green drake nymphs...
Green Drake Nymph. Big Wood River, Idaho
Cherry Blossom. Hailey, Idaho
Big Wood River Winter
Upper Big Wood River. Early Winter.
Upper Big Wood River. Early Winter. Idaho.
Foam Is Home
Here's an image taken of a rainbow pushing through a foam eddy on the Big Wood River a few days ago. Days with high temps above 32 degrees can be gems on the Big Wood in the winter. It's even possible to find rising fish...
Winter Riser. Big Wood River, Idaho
Big Wood River Below Magic Reservoir
At around 900 cfs, the Big Wood River below Magic Reservoir is quite swift to wade but from a drift boat it's just right... On this particular day, the PMD's (Pale Morning Duns) were prolific. The water color and surreal greens and basalt is really quite striking this time of year.
Big Wood River Rainbow
The warm 50˚ weather is behind us--for now at least-- and we are in the more typical low 40's and blustery weather. It blew today and last night at lower elevations as hard as it has blown all year. Semi trucks were blown over on bridges near Twin Falls today...
Below is an image of a rainbow on the Big Wood River near Ketchum, Idaho.
Big Wood River Rainbow. March.
Big Wood River
It's Midge Madness on the Big Wood River, Idaho at the moment. While the water is a bit chalky in color from recent rain, it is improving in clarity daily and the dry fly fishing is very good. In lieu of fishing today I sat in a run with my camera and tried getting as close to rising fish as I could get without spooking them. Below are two of the images I took.
Feeding Rainbow. Big Wood River, Idaho. March.
A midging Rainbow sharks near the surface of the Big Wood River. March.
Big Wood River. Winter.
Rod & Line. Big Wood River, Idaho. Winter.
A Memory
Nikon D3s & Nikon 50mm ƒ1.2 ais lens
Big Wood River Ice Shelf
The image below was taken using a Nikon 50mm ƒ1.2 ais lens. It has become a favorite lens of mine. To make an aperture adjustment you've got to do it the old school way by rotating the aperture ring on the lens. No autofocus either. But at ƒ1.2 the results can take on a dreamy effect...
Ice Shelf. Big Wood River, Idaho. February.
The Drake Magazine
Below is an image of mine in the new issue of The Drake magazine. It's of a midge along the bank of the Big Wood River near Ketchum, Idaho.
Winter Midge. Big Wood River, Idaho.
Big Wood River Green Drakes
It's Green Drake time on the Big Wood River near Sun Valley, Idaho. The next week or so should be some of the best fishing of the summer on the Big Wood. Below is an image of a bent rod on the Wood from a day ago...
Camera: Nikon D3s
Lens: Nikon ƒ2.8 14-24
Big Wood River Green Drakes
Green Drakes on the Big Wood River have not started yet, but the drake nymphs are really abundant in shin deep water up and down the river. My son, Charlie and I turned over some rocks yesterday in Hailey along the Big Wood and found a ton of green drake nymphs. The river is fishable yet swift now but expect this hatch to happen after the Wood has dropped a little more which will likely mean an incredible Green Drake year on the Big Wood. With colder weather forecast the Big Wood should drop over the next few days. Look for adult Green Drakes around the 24th or so of June...
Big Wood River
Ok..., it's June 1st and the Big Wood River is clear and very fishable. Yeah, it's a bit swift but far lower than the typical flow for this time of year. At the time of writing this, the flow on the Big Wood River is 636 cfs and the median flow is 1,550 cfs. Quite a difference between the current flow and the median. You can see in the the image below that the clarity is really good. I fished the Wood today with my two sons and Will, who is ten, caught his first unassisted fish and has decided he is really interested in fly fishing. We also turned over rocks near the bank and found many green drake nymphs.
Big Wood River Ice
Big Wood River Ice Abstracts: