October 8: Middle Provo: Some Fish Tale

Tail Section of the 18.5 inch Brown Trout

October 8: Middle Provo: Some Fish Tale 

Arrived at the Middle Provo around 8 am. Water-levels are optimal for locating big browns, bows, and cutts. I am able to dictate my own work schedule and prefer to work over the weekends in order to fish prime time water on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Sometimes this plan backfires and a Wednesday morning can be as busy as a Thursday or Friday morning (can't say that I have ever fished the Provo on a Saturday or Sunday). Needless to say, I was spoiled and had a good many runs all to myself.

Within the first 15 minutes of my fly hitting the water, I hooked into a trophy brown. During the last couple of trips I have hooked into 3-4 large browns (18+ inches), but have struggled to land them due to tippets snapping, self-inflicted mishaps, or not being able to hook the fish well enough to fight the fight--if you have ever caught a trophy brown on a 4 or 5 wt rod, you know what I am referring to. Needless to say, after 8 minutes or so of helplessly standing bye as the brown did whatever it wanted to my line and pole, the beast finally started to tire. Between zigzagging and running north south, I was worried that my 5x tippet would 

exhaust before the fish would. It's hard to get a true sense of time when fighting an extraordinary fish, but I'd be willing to wager that shortly after the 10 minute mark, I knew I was near my chance to net him. While wet-wading in the river and managing to semi-direct the fish upstream from where I was standing, with the hopes that I could swoop him up as he made his way downstream of me, I positioned my net, held my fly-rod high, and hoped for the best. The result was opposite of the best-case scenario. While he made his pass downstream of me, I was able to get half of my net on his tail-half, and he managed to slip out. Instead of continuing to rely on my rod to handle the tension, I grabbed the leader with my hand and attempted to coax him a little back to me so as to slide the net underneath. "Snap!" my 5x tippet broke at an undisturbed section above my split-sot (no knots, kinks, etc.). I watched helplessly as the bruiser drifted a little downstream of me, before darting away with my two nymphs, split-shot, and tippet in tow. In short, this was the worst case scenario for the both of us.

It's hard to resume fishing after a self-inflicted blunder that prevents being able to net and admire a trophy brown. Though I have been able to consistently hook into huge browns, I can't help but think that the brown that got away could have been the fish of lifetime on the Provo. This is nonsense, but it conveys my mental state after a close but no cigar series of events. For a short period, I sat on the bank numb, replaying the events that had just transpired and going through the what-ifs.

Fortunately, I was able to recover quickly and managed to catch and LAND several good-size browns--nothing huge, before I was able to redeeem myself. While dead drifting a nymph along a section of ripples about thigh-deep, that bit into a steep bank, I caught the flash of trophy brown and pulled up on my rod, setting the hook. At first, the fish seemed somewhat unaware that he'd been hooked, before my real squealed and he made a powerful run downstream. Over the next 15 minutes, he and I battled back and forth before he tired out enough that I was able to scoop him up. Thanks to a handle measuing tape that attaches to the handle of a net, which I found a few days back while walking along the middle provo, the Brown measured 18.5 inches. I was able to snap a few photos on the iphone--tough to know what you're getting, before releasing him back. Wish I could have taken more phontos, or reviewed the ones I took before releasing him, but I wanted to return him to a pocket of water where he could recover ASAP. 

Before the day's end, I was able to catch another 8 or more small to midsize browns and was also rewarded with a beautiful and plump cutthroat.

Comments and river observations--

First, I have to give my hat off to guys who are able to fish solo, take great pictures/ videos of their catch, and manage all without a hitch--though there may be more to their stories.

Secondly, there seems to be a lot of careless anglers on the middle lately, which has its pros and cons. In the last two outings alone, I have found an expensive net in the middle of the river, two packs of 3 leaders, and box of flies. The cons being that fisherman are leaving a lot of garbage, beer bottles, and line along the shore.  

Until next time...hopefully Wednesday!!! 

Mid-sized brown released back