MAY RIVER CONDITIONS: Trout Tales Fly Fishing Report: Provo River, Weber River and Small Streams

Fishing Summary:

May means HIGH WATER in Utah. As our temperatures warm up, our reservoirs start to fill and our tailwater fisheries like the Provo River and the Weber River start to see their first bumps in flow. Bigger water means a few things. Generally the first few days after the bump are tough fishing. High water kicks up gathered sediment, goup and rock snot turning the water off-color. Increased flows also kick-up serious amounts of insects like sow bugs, annelids, caddis nymphs, stonefly nymphs and mayfly nymphs. All that being said... fly fishing on the Provo and Weber have been relatively consistent. Nymphing and streamers have been the name of the game on both ditches with the exception of a few great dry-fly evenings on the Weber with Mothers Day Caddis. We are seeing some great precipitation this spring which is putting a smile on all of our faces here at Trout Tales. We need as much water as we can get coming out of our immensely dry winter. All in all, our local tailwaters are worth exploring during high-water. Trout are happy with high flows. They have more room to move and they are provided plenty of nutrients. Big fish come out to play this time of the year via streamer and nymph. If you're looking to explore some of our rivers that hold "toads" give us a call and we can make the necessary arrangements. Fish on!

PSA: ALWAYS CHECK THE FLOWS BEFORE YOU HEAD OUT! Don't be that guy that drives an hour to a stream running over it's banks!

MIDDLE PROVO RIVER:

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.

Water Level: 220 CFS
* Flows this time of year will change daily. Be sure to check before you head out.


Recommended Flies:

NYMPHS - POINT FLIES: San Juan Worms: earthworm brown, red, wine, size 18, 16, 14. Sow Bugs: Dark sow, Rainbow Sow, Light Sow, size 18, 20. Stonefly Nymphs. Caddis Nymphs. Larva patterns, cased patterns.

NYMPHS- DROPPER FLIES- Blue Wing Olive Mayflies size 18, 20, 22. Midge emergers black, brown, olive size 22, 20. Midge larva gray, black, red size 20, 18, 16.  Annelids and Sow Bugs will work well here too!

DRY FLIES- Mothers Day Caddis: Dark bodies, dark wings. Size 18, 20. Patterns include: Blooms Caddis Dark, Spent Partridge Peacock. Still some BWO's around on the right days. They are small! Size 20. A few midges buzzing around in the mornings and evenings as well. Small sizes.

STREAMERS-  High water means big streamers. The meat eaters come out to play in off-color water. Try patterns like the Sex Dungeon, Home Invader, Goldie, Sparkle Minnow, Sculpin patterns, leech patterns etc... Put something with a big profile in front of a beastly brown and he will at least give it a chase!

LOWER PROVO RIVER:   

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.

Water Level/Flow: 500 CFS
* Flows this time of year will change daily. Be sure to check before you head out.

RECOMMENDED FLIES: 

NYMPHS-POINT FLIES- San Juan Worms: earthworm brown, red, wine, size 18, 16, 14. Sow Bugs: Dark sow, Rainbow Sow, Light Sow, size 18, 20. Stonefly Nymphs. Caddis Nymphs. Larva patterns, cased patterns, chartreuse, olive, brown. Try a PMD or two... They just might be in the drift with this high flow.

NYMPHS- DROPPER FLIES- Blue Wing Olive Mayflies 18, 20, 22. Midges black, brown, olive, cream, grey size 22, 20. Patterns like the Bling Midge have been working well. Micro scuds size 22, 20 grey,orange. Large Sow Bugs work well this time of year, size 16 light and dark. 

DRY FLIES- Not much happening on this front with this high-flow. The fish aren't looking up as much as they are opening their mouths to the never ending conveyer belt of food that is being kicked up by increased CFS. You may still see some BWO's and Midges on the cloudy days, but it's a crap shoot.

STREAMERS- High water means big streamers. The meat eaters come out to play in off-color water. Try patterns like the Sex Dungeon, Home Invader, Goldie, Sparkle Minnow, Sculpin patterns, leech patterns etc... Put something with a big profile in front of a beastly brown and he will at least give it a chase!

WEBER RIVER:  

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.

Water Level: 178 CFS @ Coalville
* Flows this time of year will change daily. Be sure to check before you head out.

RECOMMENDED FLIES:

NYMPHS-POINT FLIES- Bead head caddis olive, brown size 16, 14. Sow bugs size 18, 16, 14. San Juan worms brown, red size 16, 14 . Stonefly nymphs size 14, 16.                         

NYMPHS-DROPPER FLIES- Blue Wing Olive Mayflies sizez, 18, 20, 22. Midge larva black, brown, purple, blue, grey and red. size 18, 20, 22. 

DRY FLIES- Mothers Day Caddis. Small dark bodies dark winged caddis will be buzzing around the mornings and evenings. Look for those warm days with sun on the water to hit the hatch! Blue Wing Olive Mayflies will continue to produce, sz, 18, 20, 22. Midges are still around as well, black, olive, cream size 22, 20. Comparaduns, Harrop CDC Flies, Smokejumper Baetis, Morgans Midge, Skittering midge.

STREAMERS- High water means big streamers. The meat eaters come out to play in off-color water. Try patterns like the Sex Dungeon, Home Invader, Goldie, Sparkle Minnow, Sculpin patterns, leech patterns etc... Put something with a big profile in front of a beastly brown and he will at least give it a chase!

Final Note: Don't let high water scare you. We catch some of our biggest fish of the year in the chocolate milk! If you want to go big fish hunting, this is great time of year to do it. You may not catch many, but the ones that will eat the fly might be the fish of a lifetime!