Utah Trip: The Provo - Part 2

After seeing what kind of crowds the Provo drew I sought out less pressured water. I figured if I went away from where the drakes supposedly were I'd find less fishermen. My logic proved correct and I found a location where no vehicles were parked. When I entered the stream caddis were every where. They were so bad in certain places along the bank I had to hold my breath. It didn't take a genius to guess maybe a caddis would be a good pattern to try first.

I could see fish rising but I didn't get one take on the caddis. The next step was to drop a nymph off the dry. This didn't get me anywhere either. I worked the banks looking for active fish. There was a deer trail that followed the bank and quite often I'd scare some kind of rodent run into the brush. There was a point around a bend where I really worked a seem that had rising fish. I had a difficult time getting my drift right. Eventually I had a mercy strike and the fish hooked itself while the fly was dragging downstream. The action was pretty boring after that. I went hours without a hit. I came to one section of the stream where there was a cobblestone island and two nice runs went along each side. I started to get really frustrated because I knew fish had to be in both of these runs. I stopped fishing and just stared out at the water hoping for some inspiration. I had been wanting to try streamers for quite awhile but I've never had a lot of confidence fishing them. I just got a new batch from The Fly Stop just for this trip. With the way the fishing had been I figured I had nothing to lose. I tied on an olive streamer and cast into the end of a run. As I was stripping the fly in I felt a tug like I had hung on the bottom. Instantly the fly was free and I noticed after bringing the fly in that it didn't have moss or any sign of hitting the bottom. Could it have been a fish?

 

My next cast I changed the retrieve up a bit. I did two big strips then a pause then another few strips. After the 3rd strip I felt a tug and saw a major splash in the distance. I had a fish on and it was a good one. The fish thrashed and my 5wt could handle the fish but could not over power it. When the fish came close I got my first good glimpse and thought for sure I was going to lose it. The fish jumped several times and it started to wind itself up in the leader. This was one of the few times I was actually glad I had my net. When the fish came close I scooped it up as quickly as possible.

I just stared at the fish in amazement. How did this happen? The fishing had been so slow up until this point. I never fish streamers. This is probably the biggest brown I have ever caught.

The fish was beautiful and the whole experience was surreal. I worked the streamer here and there and I'd notice movement several times where my fly was. I wasn't sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me, I'd cast and see a flash or see what looked to be a fish follow my fly several feet. There was another run similar to the first one where I had caught the previous brown. Just like before on my second cast I felt a massive tug. This fish was really working to stay deep. I managed to get it in the calm water where I could net it.

This brown wasn't as long as the first but it was definitely thicker. I was going way out of my comfort zone and being rewarded. Was this a fluke or is streamer fishing really this effective? I was definitely going to experiment more.

To Be Continued.... Part 3 Ogden Canyon

Utah Trip: The Provo - Part 1

My research of the Provo made me familiar with lingo like Bounce Rig, Lunker Lane and Green Drakes. The river has a reputation and the rumor was your next cast could be the one that hooks a fish of a lifetime. When I first saw the river it was nothing like I imagined. It wasn't very big in comparison to the North Carolina waters I'm used to.

There was word that green drakes were in the area and the prime time was in the middle of the day. The fly shop told me I wouldn't be the only one in the area and they weren't kidding. Every time I looked over my shoulder it seemed like someone new was walking by or standing in a spot I was thinking about fishing. I did found a spot where fish were rising. I cast near where I saw the first rise and saw a fish follow for what seemed like 20ft before refusing my fly. My next cast didn't even get a glance. I moved closer and noticed there were about 100 fish stacked up in this one run. I figured they were waiting for the green drake hatch just like every one else. There were even osprey in the trees that seemed to be waiting. There were fish rising here and there in several places but I couldn't get them to hit anything. The fishing was slow and I didn't see many people catching anything at all. A fellow angler walked by,

"Any luck?" I asked.

No but yesterday I caught 25 right where you're standing.

Just my luck. I started to get into that mode where you just kind of go through the motions. You're fishing but not really concentrating or focusing. That was until I crossed the river.

The Provo might not look big but the power of the water is no joke. The bottom is full of round softball sized rocks that constantly shift as you're wading. Combine this with a swift current and you have a lot of heart pumping river crossings. There were several times when I felt like I was rolling across the river instead of crossing it. The fishing continued to be slow and the only sign of big drake like bugs were the husks from a recent stonefly hatch.

I'd find these scattered all over but I never did see any big stoneflies flying around. The only bugs I did see were small mayflies and caddis. That's a good segway. If you're visiting Utah bring some caddis patterns. The hatches are prolific and the caddis are all over from the Provo to the lower Weber. The Provo was kicking my butt and I continued to hammer water until I ran into a guy who said he caught a few fish on drake patterns even though he hadn't seen any. I decided to give it a shot. I put on a drake pattern suggested by the Troutbum2 fly shop out of Park City. On my second cast, near a run, I saw a fish come out of a plunge pool and hammer the fly. The scenario was so different from what I experienced previously I almost didn't set the hook. I was able to pull it together and I had my first Utah trout.

The highlight for me was that it was a brown. I couldn't seem to entice any more fish with the drake pattern so I switched to a cripple. This was also recommended by the fly shop. I started to sight fish for rising trout. I found a section where a fish was rising consistently about every 30 seconds. I timed the rise and the fish took the fly with out hesitation. Now this was starting to get fun. I decided to fish this way for the rest of the afternoon. I targeted rising fish and was successful about a quarter of the time. These fish are smart. If you cast upstream above a fish and it rises behind the fly and even feels the slightest hint of the leader the fish will refuse the fly. Usually in a dramatic way by splashing and flicking the fly away. It's neat to watch. I decided to call it a day when a guide group showed up and instructed a bunch of guys on the bounce rig.

To Be Continued..... Part 2 I hit another section of the Provo and things get interesting.