Lower Provo River--at the 'Trestle'

Fly Fishing the West
Vol. 11, Issue 1
Thurs., September 24, 2009
Lower Provo River, ‘at the Trestle’

I arrived at the Trestle on the Lower Provo River at about 7:15. I hiked about 200 yards down the north side of the river to ‘Half-moon Bay’. I saw a large fish turn in the water right in front of me and then another one jumped. I tried nymphing (Tyson Method) using a sowbug and a flash-back midge (size 16-18). No luck. I switched poles (dry fly on top) and still no luck. I then tried a ‘pale morning dun (PMD) wet fly (looks like a yellow-bodied PMD but with a streaming brown hackle rather than white dry fly hackle). I had an immediate strike then caught a pretty ~10 rainbow on the size 10 wet fly. I left about 11 am.

Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. The temperature was about 38 F in the early morning warming to a very nice day by 9-10 am. The water level was down relative to July but still a bit high at this time of year per my previous experiences with Tyson.
2. It was recently stated from a study that the Provo River has about 3,000 fish per mile. That means there would be on-average about 30 fish for every 20 lineal yards of stream. In other words for a fisherman standing on the edge of the stream who can cast 10 yards upstream or 10 yards downstream would have access to about 30 fish across the water.
3. Non-resident Utah fishing license for 2009 is $12, $32, or $70 for a 1-day, 7-day or 1-year license, respectively. The annual license is good for the 365 days subsequent to the day it is purchased.