Big Wood River, ID Fishing Report

The Big Wood is a fairly consistent year round fishery, and November fishing can be very good.  There isn't much dry fly fishing this kind of year, but you can have a lot of fun nymphing.  Brassies, copper johns, zebra midges, and prince nymphs are great winter patterns, and they will continue to work until spring.  

Great fishing, good access, low water. Many anglers are sight fishing on trout residing in the pools. Traditional hatches are coming off normally. Hopper patterns are working.

The Big Wood is fishing well, but hot daytime temperatures and heavy pressure from anglers have slowed things down a little bit.  The best time to fish is about an hour before dark.  The Caddis hatches have been pretty good in the evenings.  Also, bring some Pink Alberts and Pale Morning Duns.  It's worth it to fish hoppers mid day.  

The Green Drake hatch is in full swing, and the fishing on the Big Wood has really picked up.  Along with the Drakes, we've seen pink alberts a few caddis, and some flavs.  The Green Drake hatch is a mid-day hatch, so grab a few big mayfly patters and hit the river around 11:00.

The Big Wood has come in to shape again, and it's starting to fish better.  We've seen a few Golden Stones, and it shouldn't be long before the Green Drakes show up.  It's still a nymphing game, but throw a few drakes in your box in case they pop.  

After fishing well for a week or so, the Big Wood blew a couple of days ago.  Warm temperatures and rain doubled water levels over the course of a few days.  The river has begun to drop again, but it still isn't very fishable.  Once levels get closer to 1000 cfs in Hailey, get back out there with big nymphs and buggers.  

The Big Wood is open again, and it's fishing well.  The water is high right now, but it's not too off color.  While wading is very tough, these fish haven't seen flies in about two months and they are hungry.  Fish big Nymphs is soft water, and don't be afraid to break the streamers out.  

Greetings fellow fly fishers, welcome to spring and the beginning of another season here in the Wood River Valley. At press time it feels a bit more like mid-July with the past week being unseasonably warm. Consequently we are seeing some of the highest water levels ever recorded for this period on most of our local streams and rivers. This push of water effectively ended our steelhead season on the Salmon River and any trout fishing we had on the few streams that remain all year.

The positive side of this early run-off is that we can hopefully look forward to relatively early start on our local freestone streams with an official opening date of May 26th this year on most waters. It’s pretty hard to predict, but we could have some fishable water on the Big Wood and its tributaries a bit earlier than usual this spring. Regardless, we’re blessed with having a spectacular spring creek in our backyard, Silver Creek, to rely on for early season accessibility due to its consistent year round flow. We can always look forward to casting a few flies on ‘the creek’ and then hitting Nature Conservancy cabin for the traditional opening day barbeque.

Of course I’ve only been talking about our stream fishing and don’t mean to overlook some of the great fishing we have right now on our many reservoirs. Whether you’re targeting trout on Magic, smallmouth bass on Anderson, or Crappies on C.J Strike, these reservoirs can provide some great early season action and are open, just waiting for you. As June rolls around we’ll be anxiously awaiting the brown drakes on Silver Creek and a bit later the green drakes on the Big Wood. Until then here at Sturtevant’s we’ll be working on dialing in the fly shop and our best ever fly inventory ever in preparation for a great season. As the water levels fall and the season commences we’ll have up to the date reports on our local waters and stop by our fully stocked fly shops in both Ketchum and Hailey for the latest in reports and great gear.

The Big Wood is closed until memorial day.  

With warmer days and decent cloud cover, the Wood is fishing well again.  On the right days there are definitely dry fly opportunities to be had, but nymphing has produced the best results.  Make sure you put some midges in your box, and bring a BWO or two just in case.  

The fishing on the Wood has slowed down a bit, but there are still good opportunities to catch fish.  Look for warmer days, and you might see some midge action.  Otherwise fish nymphs under an indicator in slower, deeper water.  

Fishing is fantastic on the Big Wood right now.  With warm weather and overcast days, the midging has been consistent.  If temperatures cool off, nymphing will be the best bet, but get out while the weather is still good, and bring your midges.  

It's prime time on the wood right now.  Nymphing has been very good, and there are a few fish coming up to eat midges.  Try two nymph combos, as well as small griffith's gnats or other midge patterns.  

The wood is fishing well right now.  Nymphing has produced the best results, but if it gets warm, look for mid day midge hatches.  Some of our most productive nymph patterns have been zebra midges, brassies, copper johns, or epoxy back hare's ears fished under a weighted stonefly pattern.  We've been fishing midge patterns #18-22 depending on the size of the bugs.  Try the LRO midge emerger, small adams, griffiths gnats, or the stalcup's midge emerger if things warm up a little bit.  Look for soft water.    

Big Wood River started to clear up last weekend and fish are rising to anglers' casts. The water is still running hard and wading is challenging.