Sun Valley, ID week of July 18th
My younger brother Paul gives me a call to let me know that he had a large house to share in Sun Valley with the family. Of course he mentions that there are rivers and fly fishing opportunities nearby to bait me in. Soon it was on my calendar. It was a delightful week with family and fly fishing on the Big Wood and Trail creek. The serene beauty of these streams and the surrounding sawtooth mountains under sunshine was near perfection. My older brother Dale and I had some quality time on Trail creek right in front of our house in the evening. I taught him how to roll cast and pointed out a nice eddie, mentioning that there may be a trout in there. Next thing I know, he is screaming fish on and wants me to net his fish! 9” Brown trout landed, cleaned and in the house for dinner. I woke up early the next day at first light and followed the creek down to town then waded the stream back up to the house. I found a couple of nice eddies and interested brook trout that were caught and released to grow larger. I drove up the Sun Valley road a few miles and waded a couple of miles up Trail creek, hitting every possible way-point for trout. Even found a nice eddie with hatching mosquito’s, but had no takers there. Great exercise and scenery.
There was a lot of hype about the Big Wood river and my nephew Charlie (14 years) wanted to learn to fly fish with Uncle Larry. A local shop, Lost River Outfitters set us up with Charlie’s license and some flies for the Big Wood. This was mid-day and Charlie’s first time on the river, so catch expectations were low. I set him up with my bro’s fly rod and some boots, mentioning not to go in above mid-line. We set out to explore a few river sections close to the road. Sure enough, Charlie goes right into the river above his boot line and he is yelling for help. I help him safely back out of the river and it is water filled boots from now on for Charlie. We found an excellent eddie near Adams gulch and Charlie loved to fling his line back and forth, back and forth, back and forth… oh well. I couldn’t get him to understand eddies or the need for a fly to drift with the current down the river, but he had fun and it was a beautiful day in paradise. A funny moment came that evening in the Pioneer Saloon when I was gesturing Charlie’s casting while a man entered the room. He thought I was throwing darts at him and tried to duck out of the way. My Best Dinner and Service Ever in the Pioneer Saloon, Ketchum! Happy Fishing!

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