Last Updated on Monday, 13 June 2011 09:07

June 12, 2011

This little river is no little river either above or below Makey Reservoir.  Below the dam the river is flowing at around 1200 cfs and is real tough to fish.  I would suggest if you are up in this area to stick to Silver Creek and don't make the trip to the Big Lost.

April 5, 2011

If you don't mind the drive this little river might pay off with some nice trout.  The Big Lost is flowing at around 210 cfs which makes it almost perfect for casting to rising trout trying to make a meal out of Baetis may flies.  What you should see are both midges and BWO"s on the Lost.  You may start off nymphing and then come around a corner and see rising trout.  This time of the year when rivers are either closed or blown out with run off, you might want to take a shot at The \Big Lost River.

March 25, 2001

The Big lost is now open all year but I wouldn't make the trip up there just to fish this river just yet.  The water is high and the rainbows are going to be if not already spawning.  So the best bet is to let this river go unless you are near there in your travels then head below the dam and try and fish the seams with attractor flies with a bead head dropper or just a regular nymph rig set up with two bead head nymphs and a little lead.

August 26, 2010

The fishing has been pretty good lately just below Mackey Dam.  Nymphing using a tandum of bead head may fly nymphs will work well.  You can also use a good attractor pattern dropped with a bead head nymph with pretty much the same results.

June 20, 2010

The Big Lost River is running very high right now.  It's better to wait a couple more weeks for this river to settle down.  Spring run off has really kept this river near unfishable.

June 1, 2010

Right now the river is very wadable which means you are going to be able to get to some of the places on the river you normally can't get to during a normal run off.  This river has a short window before they start releasing water from Mackey Res. when you can really pull some nice rainbows out.  Use a size sixteen Adams or Annihilator dropped with a Bead Head Baetis or your favorite bead head nymph to start things off.  You will probably see PMD's, Baetis and Caddis as your primary bugs.  Work the pocket water with lots of dry shake floatant.  This is where you don't want to use a strike indicator because you should be catching them on both the dry and the dropper.

March 22 1010

The Big Lost River will be closed April 1 unil the season opens

March 1, 2010

The only real reports coming from the Big Lost River is there is still a lot of snow, the water level is low and the fishing has been slow.  This is not yet a destination river especially this time of year.

October 27, 2009

This little river is one of the best places to fish right now.  At 75 cfs the river is experiencing great Baetis hatches.  A good Parachute Blue Winged Olive with a BWO emerger will catch plenty of trout during a good hatch.  In between hatches you should drop behind your Parachute BWO with a bead head Baetis or Pheasant Tail.

October 7, 2009

The Big Lost is still fishing pretty good.  Baetis, Tricos and Midges are feeding plenty of trout still.  The river is around 300 cfs which makes it really wadeable and you can really get in to where the fish are.  Work the pockets and tail outs  real hard.  The late afternoon and early evening can be a great time to get into a mind bending hatch.

September 23, 2009

Still good top water action on the Big Lost.  Use attractor flies with bead head nymphs.  There is still some May fly activity below the damn so keep your eye open  for them and adjust accordingly.

September 15, 2009

Anglers are reporting pretty good attractor fly action on the Big Lost River.  If you are going to be in the Sun Valley area or are planning a trip to Silver Creek you should swing by the Big Lost River during the slow periods or for a change of scenery.  This river is now very wade-able and you can rip a few really nice trout for your effort.

September 4, 2009

After a long hot summer of high river flows you can now make the Big Lost River a destination.  The river is running at around 400 cfs and can be waded easily.  Most trout are answering to attractor flies with a bead head dropper.

August 24, 2009

Finally the Big Lost river is at a fishable flow.  Just recently dropped down to a little over 400 cfs you can now at least fish this river with expected success.  What you're going to find is a May fly extravaganza.  Pink Albert's, Trico's and Baetis top the list.  So  if you're going to be in that country, make the effort to drive to Mackey Damn and fish down from there.

August 17, 2009

Still to much water coming from the damn to make this a destination trip.

August 5, 2009

If you're heading for the Big Lost River you might want to skip it and head instead to Copper Basin.  The river flow is over 600 cfs and for this time of year that is to high for you to make the trip up just to fish this river.  It's best to wait until they drop the river down to at least 300 cfs to make this trip.  On the good side put this river down for a fall fishing trip.  Not much angler pressure makes this little river a sleeper.

July 22, 2009

Fishing has been pretty good lately.  The water flow is down and the water is clear below the dam.  Adams and other attractor patterns seem to work the best.  If fishing seem to slow down add a dropper to you dry about two feet long.  This place can be worth the drive.

This river, which would be excellent is high and muddy. If you're going to go here don't try the dam. Start at the lower river section and work down. This is a river you might want to put off until after the run off.