Big Wood Idaho

Chapter 2: "2nd base/wild rice"

The Big Wood:                    Seasoned wild rice/2^nd base

I have to get this out of the way: all these bases/foods/rivers are fantastic to me, all of them. The Big Wood a great name and a great river. One thing that I love about this river and fishing in Idaho in general is how easy it is to camp. We stayed at a camping area where highway 75 meets highway 20 there was hardly anyone there, and Johnny and I had our pick of the place; which was wooded, clean, natural perfect. Best of all we camped right next to the river.

The guides at Lost Creek said above magic Reservoir would be good and it was fine in terms of both fishing and scenery. But where the Wood really gets impressive is out of Ketchum on the way to Stanley. For God’s sake it’s the Saw tooth Mountain Range! I love the names: The Saw Tooth, The Big Wood, and The Big Lost! Everything in Utah is named after some dead Mormon pioneer. At any rate the Saw Tooth Range is a lot like the Tetons in Wyoming—need I say more.

We fished the Wood the whole first night and the next morning. We didn’t catch big fish, we didn’t catch on fire, but we did create some sparks. But in all honesty I think we fished the wrong parts of the Wood. Fishing with Johnny is the best; he is the ultimate at playing team ball. In fact we fish a style we call “baseball,” were each guy gets a certain amount of casts in a hole, and then the other guy gets a shot at it. What is good about it is that you get to find out what works. Johnny doesn’t lock in on one thing, and keeps switching it up, always striving to learn, it he helps me be more effective. When Johnny was knee high to a grasshopper he decided to pick up fly fishing on his own, and even started tying his own. He fished for almost a year and a half without catching a fish—a year and a half, that determination. I love hearing about his story about the first fish he caught on a fly rod. I don’t know who his Uncle Sam was that got it in his blood, but in in there—he’s a hell of a fishermen. 

See chapter 3:      3rd base/20 oz IPA