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Perkins, Petty win inaugural Big Wood Single Fly

Submitted by chris_hunt on Mon, 2014-08-04 12:40
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Colvin Matheson casts on the Big Wood River during the Big Wood Single Fly event Sunday.

 

Dave Perkins and Justin Petty tallied 90 total points to claim first place in the first-ever Big Wood Single Fly title in Sun Valley, Idaho, over the weekend. Perkins also won the Biggest Trout award, notching an 18-inch rainbow to claim that top prize.

More importantly, the event raised $14,000 for TU's work in the Big Wood River drainage of south-central Idaho. 

Stoney Burke and Patsy Ishiyama teamed up for 66 total points to grab the second-place prize, and "Team River Rats" grabbed third with a total of 63 points. John Ashton of Team River Rats caught 12 trout during the one-day event to claim the Most Trout award, and Terry Hyman earned the distinction of "Biggest Loser"--he lost his fly (and anglers are only allowed to use a single fly the entire day) at 10:30 a.m. and was out of the competition, leaving teammate Colvin Matheson to soldier on alone. 

Rick Buckley of the Sun Valley Outfitters team was awarded the "Bird Dog Award" for going swimming for his fly in shorts and swim goggles--twice.

 

Matheson chasing trout on the Big Wood.

 

In all, eight teams of two--each accompanied by an attendant to record results--hit the river Sunday morning after paying an entry fee of $1,000 per team. A silent auction conducted after the awards ceremony Sunday night helped raise the remainder of the money for Big Wood River projects and restoration efforts.

"We're very grateful to all who competed and helped us raise money to make the Big Wood an even better fishery," said Mark Davidson, director of the Idaho Water Project based in Hailey, Idaho. "The event was a huge success, and we're looking forward to an even bigger event next summer."

To learn more about the Big Wood River and the Idaho Water Project, contact Davidson or Big Wood River Project Coordinator Chad Chorney. 

 

Comments

 
markayork said on Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

You need to show pics of the fish caught and where they were caught. This guy casting is meaningless. This river doesn't yield many fish on a daily basis. Catching them by the dozens is unlikely. an 18-inch fish is unheard of. 15-16 sure. Moreover, most of the river was blown out by Warm Springs Creek fire runoff and still is so only the river north of town was clear enough to fish and has been fishing slow and tough. Even Bill Mason says so.  Is Dave Perkins the owner of Orvis?

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GregMcReynolds said on Tuesday, August 5th, 2014

Mark,

The river below warm springs was blown out, so everyone fished above the confluence. Each team had a monitor/judge who did the measuring and the official scoring. The folks who fished the event are exceptional anglers and for the most part had very good days. It was a fun event that raised a bunch of money to make fishing better on the Big Wood thanks to all the anglers who made it happen.

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markayork said on Wednesday, August 6th, 2014

Yes, I should say they are and not from around here either. Pictures would make this reportage more credible as I always post my catches, which are numerous albeit infrequent. It wouldn't hurt to show the winning fly and answer who Perkins is. Then a little research shows that he is indeed the Exectutive Vice Chairman of Orvis and brother of CEO Perk Perkins. What a surprise.

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MikeMckenna said on Friday, August 8th, 2014

Hi, Mike here. I was the attendant/judge for the Perkins/Petty team. Here's a photo of the fish Dave landed that measured out at just under 18", tip to tail. The river below Warm Springs was blown out that day, but it was clear above and if you don't believe there are a lot of big fish in that stretch you should just follow Dave around for an afternoon. Even though there were some great local anglers competing, including some top-notch local guides, Dave put on a clinic--and he's a heck of a nice guy to boot. It was fun to watch. The Big Wood Single Fly will no doubt become a big success for years to come.

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