Fly Fishing the Middle Provo River

I first hit the lower Provo River.  This is a river I used to frequent often.  In fact, I have fished every section of the lower Provo from the mouth of the canyon to the Deer Creek Dam.  I was quite disheartened on this trip.  Walking down the railroad tracks I noticed a lot of the trees and shrubs between the river and the tracks had been bulldozed.  Private property signs were all over the place.  This is not the same river I had been used to.  Since I was there I gave it a try.  I fished my favorite stretches that always produce in the fall.  The water was somewhat off color, not the usual low clear water that is typical in the fall.  I didn’t even get a strike.  I tried a couple different sets of flies - those that, from experience, always work in the fall on the Lower Provo.  I gave up after a couple of hours and decided to try somewhere I have never fished before, the Middle Provo River.

The Middle Provo is the stretch that is between Deer Creek Reservoir and Jordanelle Reservoir.  This section, historically, had been straightened, dewatered and utilized for irrigation.  A few years back, it was reconstructed to its original course.  This is now the stretch of river which is most recommended in the state.  It is also known as always being crowded. 

There are official paved parking lots with outhouses and signs.  I pulled into the parking lot and there were eight other cars.  The parking lot on the other side of the road and a few hundred yards down had just as many.  This was in the middle of the week, not the weekend.  I hiked along the river, passing several fishermen.  I asked if the trail went far.  The fisherman I asked said that he thought it went the entire length of the river. 

I figured the further away from the parking lot, the better.  Sure enough, I kept hiking and never found the end of the trail.  In fact I crossed the river and the trail on the other side kept going as well.  This river definitely has easy access.  In the stretch I hiked I found three guides each with two or three clients. 

I started fishing and quickly caught a small brown trout.  A few minutes later I caught a slightly larger one – not bad for a first time visit.  These fish I caught on the usual small nymphs I use for the Lower Provo and Weber rivers, Pheasant Tails, etc.  I would have liked to have had my 4 weight rod and been dry fly fishing.  I did see quite a few fish jump.  This part of the river is smaller than the Lower Provo and Weber and would have been easy to fish with a dry fly.  The hike along the trail is pretty.  They have done a good job making the river natural with plenty of trees and shrubs. 

In fact, there are even bird houses in the trees here.  I will definitely come back and try this river again.

By the way, I traveled up and down the river for miles and never did find that black bear.