Fishing the Lower Provo River Vol. 28 APR16

Fly Fishing the West

Vol. 28, Issue 1

August 7, 2016

Lower Provo River, Provo Canyon, Utah 

Thursday, August 7, 2016—Tyson and I arrived at the Lower Provo River at about 6:45 am just below the trailer court below Deer Creek Reservoir. We hiked down to the stream about 75 yards below then upstream along the railroad tracks about 150 yards to what we call “Big Bend”. The weather was clear but cold (about 30 degrees F).  The sun was not yet up (see Note 1 below). I fished the bend behind a rock in the stream. We were ‘Euro-nymphing’ (see Note 2 below) with a setup by Tyson. I had a size 6 stone fly nymph (weighted by a double bead head on the dropper line and a size 16 bead head midge. On the second cast I hooked and landed a chunky, 16 inch rainbow, see PICTURE 28-1. The fish took the trailing size 16 midge. Tyson then caught a nice brown (14 inches on a long size 14 beadhead sowbug) by a log just above Big Bend. We then waded across the stream to the south bank and moved downstream from Big Bend fishing the long chute of water (about 150 yards long). We caught about 5 browns 14-16 inches and two other big rainbows, about 18 inches, see PICTURE 28-2.

We left about 11:30 am. 

Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. It was cold when we arrived. No one else was there. For the first 1 ½ hours we had ice buildup on the pole guides. The ice could be removed by dipping your pole into the stream. After about 9 am when the sun began to fill the canyon it warmed up to pleasant temperatures. There was no wind.
2. Euro-nymphing is a method Tyson has trying for several years. We went to a Fly Fishing Expo on Saturday, April 2, 2016 near Sandy, Utah and attended a 2 hr. class on Euro-nymphing by Lance Egan, a famous fly fisherman on the US World Fly Fishing Team, and works for Cabela’s in Lehi. We used the same basic setup as he recommended in the class. That included a 6-8 foot leader (about 0x to1x) attached to a ‘sighter’ (high visibility florescent yellow/red leader) about 2 feet long, then a 6 foot tippet (about 4x). About 3 ½ feet down the tippet is a 6 inch long dropper to tie a fly and another fly is added at the end of the tippet. No weights are used, only weighted flies.
3. About 10:30 am two large wild turkeys flew right over our heads crossing the stream.
4. The water was cold and clear with little ‘milfoil’ (seaweed type growth). The water level was very low making wading with hip waders no problem at all. 
5. Non-resident Utah fishing license for 2016 for 2 years is $148. The annual license is good for the 365 days subsequent to the day it is purchased.

PICTURE 28-1 Rainbow on Lower Provo River APR16

PICTURE 28-2 Rainbow on Lower Provo River APR16

Fishing Lower Provo River Vol. 29 8APR16

Fly Fishing the West

Vol. 29, Issue 1

August 8, 2016

Lower Provo River, Provo Canyon, Utah 

Friday, August 8, 2016—Tyson, Norm and I arrived at the Lower Provo River at about 6:45 am just below the trailer court below Deer Creek Reservoir. We hiked down to the stream about 75 yards below then upstream along the railroad tracks about 150 yards to what we call “Big Bend”. The weather was clear but cold (about 33 degrees F).  The sun was not yet up (see Note 1 below). As the day before we were ‘Euro-nymphing’ (see Note 2 below) with a setup by Tyson. I had a size 6 stone fly nymph (weighted by a double bead head on the dropper line and a size 18 unweighted flashback midge on the trailing line. I fished the bend and on the second or third cast hooked and landed a fat, 17 inch rainbow. The fish took the trailing size 18 flashback midge. Norm was fishing downstream in a chute of water about 150 yards long. He at the same time caught fat rainbow (about 16 inches) then a nice brown (about 14 inches on a trailing size 16 weighted midge). I then moved downstream below Norm. Tyson was pretty busy going from Norm to me, back to Norm helping to land fish before he could even get his line in the water. Norm then caught a 14-inch MOUNTAIN WHITEFISH, see PICTURE 29-1. (We have been fishing the lower Provo River just below the Deer Creek Reservoir dam for about 10 years with Tyson and this is only the second Mountain Whitefish I have seen caught there.) We then worked our way downstream about ½ mile with Norm and Tyson catching several browns about 12-14 inches. Norm then caught a nice brown about 16 inches; see PICTURE 29-2.About 11:30 am we decided to go back to the chute run just below Big Bend. There the stream seemed to turn a bit magical as the fish started actively feeding and we were catching browns and rainbows from 14-18 inches, see PICTURES 29-3 and 29-4. One last fish I caught was a beautiful, 19-inch rainbow with a thin orange ‘slash’ marking of a cutthroat trout on the underside of its mouth, see Picture 29-5. This would be due to interbreeding of rainbows and the native cutthroat trout. Lance Egan (Provo River fly fishing expert) believes there are very few cutthroat trout left in the Lower Provo.)

We left about 1 pm. 

Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. It was cold when we arrived. We were the first to arrive. After about 9 am when the sun began to fill the canyon it warmed up to pleasant temperatures. There was no wind.
2. Euro-nymphing is a method Tyson has trying for several years. We went to a Fly Fishing Expo on Saturday, April 2, 2016 near Sandy, Utah and attended a 2 hr. class on Euro-nymphing by Lance Egan, a famous fly fisherman on the US World Fly Fishing Team, and works for Cabela’s in Lehi. See Volume 28, Issue 1 dated 7APR16 for more details on the rod-line setup we used for euro-nymphing.
3. Tyson was able to catch the action of two fish being caught on a GoPro. (Not included here.)
4. The water was cold and clear with little ‘milfoil’ (seaweed type growth). The water level was very low making wading with hip waders no problem at all. 

Non-resident Utah fishing license for 2016 for 2 years is $148. The annual license is good for the 365 days subsequent to the day it is purchased.

PICTURE 29-1 Mountain White Fish Lower Provo APR16

PICTURE 29-2 Brown Trout Lower Provo APR16

PICTURE 29-3 BrownTrout Lower Provo River APR16

PICTURE 29-4 Brown Trout Lower Provo River APR16

PICTURE 29-5 Rainbow with Cutthroat Mark Lower Provo River APR16

Bow River in Banff, CANADA

Fly Fishing the West

Vol. 102, Issue 1

August 29, 2013

Bow River, BANFF, CANADA 

Thursday, August 29, 2013—About 10am John and I arrived at the park on the BOW RIVER just below the FAIRMONT HOT SPRINGS HOTEL in the town of BANFF CANADA. Here the river is a cascading water fall that makes a left turn and flows south-east. The Bow River is a large, high flow, turquoise-green river. Just below the falls where the river turns the SPRAY River flows into the Bow River. The Spray is a small clear-running stream, easy to wade across. We fished where the Spray river flows into the Bow. This is also a place where they launch large rafts (8-12 people) to float down the Bow river. We tried fly fishing both bounce-rig nymphing and wet flies with no luck. I switched to a spinning rod with a water bubble and a fly trailing about 2-3- feet. I filled the bubble with water so it would slowly sink. The weight of the water in the bubble made it possible to cast a mile. I started to cast about 50 yards out into the Bow River and let the current take it downstream for about 15 seconds. I then stopped feeding line so the bubble and fly would wash into a large pool from which rafts were launched. After several casts I hooked a 16- inch cutthroat on a size-12 nondescript wet fly, dark grey with brown hackle. About ½ hour later I caught a 15-inch cutthroat on a size-14 red Zebra midge tied by Tyson.

What a beautiful setting to be fishing. Although not off somewhere where you are alone in nature, it was fun to be fishing where there were a lot of people milling around probably from a very famous hotel. We met and talked to Canadians, Germans, Asians, etc. 

 Other Miscellaneous Information/Observations:

1. The weather was slightly overcast nevertheless it was warm and pleasant.
2. Non-resident Banff National Park fishing license for 2013 was CAN$10 (exchange rate about $US 1 = $CAN 1.02) for one day.

15-inch Cutthroat Trout Bow River Banff CANADA