STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTO BY ED NORTHEN
It’s a land of Western plateaus that look as if they belong in a John Wayne movie. A whitewater mecca that features a Class V rapid named Widowmaker.
And the Owyhee Wilderness features monster brown trout that exceed two feet, as well.
Learn about fishing the Owyhee River Wilderness on Thursday, Feb. 1, when the Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited presents a free program, “Small Flies, Fine Tippet and Big Trout.”
The program will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Whiskey Jacques in Ketchum.
Chris Gerono, fishing guide with Idaho Angler in Boise, will take armchair viewers to the irregularly shaped wilderness area that stretches from the Oregon-Idaho border in the west to the Duck Valley Indian Reservation in the east to the Nevada-Idaho border in the south.
The rivers and creeks are deeply eroded into the Owyhee Plateau, resulting in deep canyons. The roads are rough and there are few trails.
But the prime trout fishery is not challenging to access. Located just 50 miles from Boise, the Owyhee River draws anglers form all corners of the world, luring them with the opportunity to feed dry flies, streamers and nymphs to fish that average 17 to 21 inches in size.
Gerono has guided clients for trout and steelhead in Montana’s Paradise Valley, Yellowstone Park and Alaska. And for the last 10 years he has made a living guiding in Idaho and Oregon. He also leads seminars and classes on fly fishing and fly tying—you may have even seen him on episodes of “Hank Patterson-Your Fly Fishing Guide.”