STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited will introduce the new Project Big Wood at its annual International Fly Fishing Film Festival this week.
The Film Festival will be held Friday, Jan. 20, at The Argyros in Ketchum. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and films will start at 6:45 p.m.
The evening will include fly fishing films, raffles, silent auction items. There also will be games and prizes, including an opportunity for youth to win one of several youth flyfishing rod and reel combinations. There also will be a raffle just for kids with tickets selling for $5 each.
“Of course, the IF4 International Fly Fishing Film compilation will be the key attraction,” said Trout Unlimited member Nick Miller.
The family-friendly 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 rescues, river restoration, public access monitoring and Project Big Wood, a new non-profit focused on restoring and preserving the Big Wood River through education and partnerships.
Project Big Wood’s website is going live on Monday and will have its official coming out at the Fly Fishing Festival, said Miller. Its executive director is Amanda Bauman, who until recently was a teacher at the Sun Valley Community School.
“(Project Big Wood) is strongly supported within the river guide and fishing community,” Miller said. “Hopefully, it will be able to plug the policy, coordination and education holes that need to be filled for the river to return 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 Project Big Wood on Friday. But she did say that its main goal would be to educate the community about how they could take part in restoring the Big Wood as a world-class trout stream.
For instance, she said, Project Big Wood 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 stream monitoring. And it could educate homeowners about such things as why riparian areas are needed and why homeowners shouldn’t plant grass right up to the edge of the river.
“The Big Wood River needs a lot of help,” she said.
Tickets to Friday’s film festival are $25 for adults and $5 for those 18 and under, available at https://theargyros.org/.