STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited will present the new Big Wood Project at its annual International Fly Fishing Film Festival this week.
The Film Festival will be held on Friday, January 20th at The Argyros in Ketchum. Doors open at 5.30pm and films start at 6.45pm
The evening will include fly fishing movies, raffles, silent auction items. There will also be games and prizes, including a chance for youth to win one of several fly fishing rod and reel combinations. There will also be a kids-only raffle with tickets on sale for $5 each.
“Of course, IF4’s compilation of international fly fishing films will be the key attraction,” said Trout Unlimited member Nick Miller.
The family event is a perfect opportunity to learn more about the sport of fly fishing, conservation and local projects, said Ed Northen. Proceeds from the event will support fish rescue, river restoration, public access monitoring and the Big Wood Project, a new nonprofit focused on restoring and preserving the Big Wood River through the ‘education and associations.
The Project Big Wood website will be launched Monday and officially launched at the Fly Fishing Festival, Miller said. Its executive director is Amanda Bauman, who until recently was a teacher at Sun Valley Community School.
“(Project Big Wood) has a lot of support in the fishing and river guide community,” Miller said. “Hopefully, it will be able to plug the policy, coordination and education holes that need to be filled to return the river to world-class status.”
Bauman didn’t want to reveal too much ahead of Blaine County’s official announcement of its partnership with the 501-c-3 Big Wood project on Friday. But he did say his main goal would be to educate the community about how they could participate in restoring the Big Wood as a world-class trout stream.
For example, he said, the Big Wood Project could educate the public about the results of the Big Wood Atlas, an effort to map the river. It could keep the public informed of the results of periodic flow monitoring. And it could educate property owners on things like why riparian zones are needed and why property owners shouldn’t plant grass right up to the river’s edge.
“The Big Wood River needs a lot of help,” he said.
Tickets for Friday’s film festival are $25 for adults and $5 for children under 18, available at