Lower Provo River, Provo Canyon, Utah

Fly Fishing the West
Vol. 17, Issue 1
Monday, November 30, 2009
Lower Provo River, Provo Canyon, Utah

I arrived below the ‘Trailer Park’ (about 1 mile below Deer Creek Reservoir) at about 11 am. I fished the ‘big bend’ in the river by the trailer park for about 1 and ½ hours with no strikes and no observable fish activity. I tried both nymphing (Tyson method) with a sow bug and flash-back midge and with a white streamer with no luck. I moved down stream, crossing the river to the south side of the stream. I tried nymphing with no luck. I then noticed across the stream against the far bank what appeared to be caddis flies just above the surface. I switched to the streamer and almost immediately caught a 14” brown trout on a size 6 beadhead, all white streamer with a slight tail. After a while I switched back to nymphing and caught a ~20 inch Rainbow on a size 20 flash-back midge. He appeared to be an ol’ buck and put up a good fight. It turned out to be a great day. I left about 3 pm.


Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. The weather was sunny, very little breeze, but cold, i.e., 29 degrees F.
The water level was very low, maybe the lowest I have ever seen. Wading across the river to go downstream from below the trailers was not a problem at all.
2. 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.