BY KAREN BOSSICK

Many people put their flyfishing gear away when the snow falls and temperatures drop.

Not Ed Northen. The Hailey flyfishing man says that for some people winter is the mot enjoyable time of the year to fish in the Wood River Valley, and he can point to plenty of wintertime adventures standing in icy river waters to prove that.

In fact, Northen will present a program outlining how to flyfish in the winter at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 8, at the Argyros Theater in Ketchum. The presentation, hosted by the Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited, is free and open to the public.

Ed Northen couldn’t resist taking this picture of a 20-inch brown trout caught in winter and touched up in Photoshop.

Northen says he is attracted to fishing in winter by the solitude, beauty and challenging fishing, which for him are trifecta of flyfishing.

“I have many favorite experiences. One would be fishing in the canyon on the Big Wood River below Magic Reservoir,” he said. “We had to park our truck further down the road than normal because we did not want to get stuck.  My friend and I then hiked down into the canyon only to find that the river had a sheet of ice on it around the edges. There was crystal  hoarfrost settled onto all of the trees and it was beautiful.

“I broke through the ice for about 75 feet until we could get to open water.  As the day warmed to almost 32 degrees, a blue wing olive hatch came off and the trout were sipping little mayfly emerges.  We fished until the sun disappeared behind the canyon walls and the guides in our fly rods began to ice up.  We hiked back out of the canyon to our truck in the presence of an amazing winter sunset.”  

Wednesday’s program will include a look at the gear and clothing needed for winter flyfishing, techniques and flies to use, waters available to fish and how to do so safely. Much of the information  will be useful to those who prefer to fish at other times of the year. And Northen is donating a few of the flies he likes to fish with in winter that will be available to win via a raffle.

Northern worked in Orange County, Calif., as a fire captain and paramedic for 34 years before retiring and moving to Hailey 21 years go. Here, he pursues his passions of environmental stewardship, flyfishing, hiking, trail running, cross country skiing and poetry.

He worked for 15 years as a flyfishing guide for Silver Creek Outfitters and is past president of Hemingway Chapter of Trout Unlimited.