Middle Provo RiverRiver Profile: The Middle Provo River is one of Utah’s premiere fly fishing rivers. Located only 20 minutes from Park City the “Middle” is known for its healthy population of wild Brown Trout. The Middle Provo is characterized by deep bends, shallow riffles, structured runs and smooth glides. Our fly fishing guides use all fly fishing techniques to catch fish here, including: Nymphing, dry fly fishing, dry-dropper and streamer fishing. Flow/Water Level: 145 CFS Report Summary: The Middle Provo has been surprisingly productive these last few weeks utilizing all our favorite winter flies. With this unseasonably warm weather the midge fishing both sub-surface and on top has been productive. Water temperatures haven’t dropped off like they usually do this time of year, and it has made the resident brown trout active to the fly and blast to fight on the end of the line. With the coming storms and actual winter weather we are okaying on having we are predicting a change in the fishing to mostly nymph fishing. Fish are still spawning in a few places so egg patterns have been working, but midges in all their variations have been the name of the game. Come explore the Middle Provo with us this holiday season! Recommended Flies: Nymphs - Point Flies: Egg Patterns - orange, peach, chartreuse (16, 18). San Juan Worms - red (18, 20). Zebra Midges (Midge Larva) and Variations - red, black, brown, olive, orange, wine (20, 22, 24). Nymphs - Dropper Flies: Midge Emergers and Pupa, Juju Midge, RS2, Soft hackles - black, red, orange, brown, olive (20, 22, 24). Zebra Midges (Midge Larva) and Variations - red, black, brown, olive, orange, wine (20, 22, 24). Dry Flies: Midges are the only game in town. Here are a few patterns that have been working: Morgans Midge, Hi-Vis Griffiths Gnat, Double Midge, CDC Midge, Midge Cripples and Emergers. The main colors you should be sticking too are black, grey (dun, light dun, dark dun), and olive. You have to go small with these guys especially when the water is at the low winter flows (20, 22, 24, 26). The fish can see you coming from a mile away so approach slowly and generally from behind. Streamers: When water temperatures drop below 40 degrees streamers become pretty ineffective. Brown trout are usually very responsive to a variety of streamers on the Middle Provo River like: Platte River Spiders (rust, olive, white), Zonkers, Wooly Buggers, Goldilocks. If you are going to strip streamers in the winter months go small (8, 10, 12) and slow your retrieve. Lower Provo RiverRiver Profile: The Lower Provo River is a tailwater that originates from the bottom of Deer Creek Dam. The Lower Provo is one our closest big fish fisheries with many of the Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout exceeding 18 inches and 3 pounds. The stream boasts large populations of wild Rainbow and Brown Trout with numbers beyond 3,500 in the first few miles below the dam. The “Low-Pro” as it is sometimes called has a vegetated stream bottom with far less boulders and structure than the middle. It almost resembles an Idaho or Montana spring creek in its behavior. The Lower Provo is home to large populations of mayflies and sow bugs which allow the resident trout to grow quickly and respond well to the fly. Flow/Water Level: 100 CFS Report Summary: The state is constantly messing with the flows on the Lower Provo during the winter, making it a hard river to predict on any given day. That being said, there have been consistent midge emergences in the early afternoon each day once the water temps have warmed a bit from the sun. Sow bugs will continue to work all winter long and midge patterns, both emergers and larva will produce good results when the angler starts spotting some buzzing insects. The top end of the river, closest to the dam seems to be the best fishing section during the cold winter months because of the warmer water released from Deer Creek. Recommended Flies Nymphs - Point Flies: Sow Bugs - light grey (18, 20). Egg patterns - orange, chartreuse (16, 18). San Juan Worms - wine, red, earthworm brown (18, 20). Nymphs - Dropper Flies: Midge Emergers and Pupa, Juju Midge, RS2, Soft hackles - black, red, orange, brown, olive, grey (20, 22, 24). Zebra Midges (Midge Larva) and Variations - red, black, brown, olive, orange, wine, cream, grey (20, 22, 24). Dry Flies: Midges are the only game in town. Here are a few patterns that have been working: Morgans Midge, Hi-Vis Griffiths Gnat, Double Midge, CDC Midge, Midge Cripples and Emergers. The main colors you should be sticking too are black, grey (dun, light dun, dark dun), and olive. You have to go small with these guys especially when the water is at the low winter flows (20, 22, 24, 26). The fish can see you coming from a mile away so approach slowly and generally from behind. Streamers: When water temperatures drop below 40 degrees streamers become pretty ineffective. Brown trout are usually very responsive to a variety of streamers on the Middle Provo River like: Platte River Spiders (rust, olive, white), Zonkers, Wooly Buggers, Goldilocks. If you are going to strip streamers in the winter months go small (8, 10, 12) and slow your retrieve. Weber RiverRiver Profile: The Weber River has three sections - The Upper Weber, Middle Weber and Lower Weber. Park City Trout Tales focuses primarily on the Middle Weber River section in between the towns of Warship and Coalville. The Middle Weber River is a tailwater fishery originating from Rockport Reservoir near Wanship, Utah. The characteristics of the Weber are a blend of the both the Middle and Lower Provo. The Weber has super deep pools and bends, undercut banks, long shallow riffles, overhanging trees and bulbous structure. All of these structural characteristics make the Weber River a haven for large Brown Trout. The average fish size on the Weber tends to be bigger than the on the Provo River and the Brown Trout are sandy colored and generally have less spots. Historically a very productive Cutthroat Trout fishery, a few “Cutties” still lurk between the Browns, Rainbows and Whitefish.
Flow/Water Level: 26 CFS Report Summary: The Weber River during the winter is generally not our first choice. The Utah water managers basically shut the tap off on the Middle section, drastically affecting the available water for holding trout. We tend to stay away from this fishery when the flows drop below 50 CFS. We want healthy trout populations for the coming spring season, so we tend to leave these fish be during the winter months. Come May, Mothers Day Caddis and Blue Wing Olives will kick off another great season on the Weber River. *If you are going to fish the Weber this time of year, please be mindful of spawning fish and highly stressed trout during the winter months. Recommended Flies: N/A Leave a Reply. |
TROUT TALES
FLY FISHING REPORT AND RIVER CONDITION UPDATES AUTHORSTHE GUIDES OF ARCHIVES
February 2019
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