Lower Provo River

Fly Fishing the West
Vol. 9, Issue 1
Tues., September 22, 2009
Lower Provo River, Provo Canyon, Utah--Below Trailer Park

I arrived at the Lower Provo River at about 8 am about one mile below the Deer Creek Reservoir just below the trailer park. I fished the ‘bend in the river’ pool for about 1 hour nymhing. I hooked a large fish in a size 16 sowbug (Tyson method nymphing). It came partially out of the water, heading back into the deep part of the pool and was gone.

About 11 am I drove down to the ‘train trestle’ and tried ‘half-moon bay’ (~200 yds below the trestle on the north side of the stream) with no luck. The wind was starting to blow making a normal cast hard to make. I moved down to ‘Jason Run’. I hooked a ~16-18 inch brown on a size 18 flashback midge. Then something quite magical happened. The fish jumped at least 5 feet out of the water! I was absolutely amazed. (It reminded me of Chinook salmon trying to jump steep waterfalls heading upstream to spawn.) As soon as it dove back into the water it was off the hook and gone….almost like it never happened.

About 2 pm I met Alan and we tried ‘moose bend’ for a while with no luck. The weather was still unsettled with some wind. Later in the evening we tried the flat water about a mile below the trestle. (There is a stairway off the freeway where we fished.) As it began to get dark there seemed to be some activity across the river. Alan caught a ~12 inch rainbow fishing a dry fly, wading half way across the stream and casting to the far bank.

Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. In the morning hiking down from the road to the trailer court area I saw two deer walking along the railroad tracks.
2. This part of the Middle Provo has a wooden walkway that winds through the wetlands on the East side of the river. It is very nice and must provide a beautiful area to observe birds and animals throughout the summer.
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.