October 26, 2012: Middle Provo Fishing Report: New Benchmark Set!!!

After a week of not fishing, trying to make up for lost time on current work, and the whole drama between IQ, his fiancé, and my wife, I desperately needed to get some alone time on the Provo. On Thursday night (October 25), I went to Sportsman's Warehouse and picked up a pair of neoprene waders (cheaper ones) and some nice Korkers wading boots. I can see how these major upgrades are viewed as necessary items for most anglers, but it still felt like I was cheating on my first and second string river shoes and my cargo shorts, which have several flies and a nymph permanently embedded in them--I believe that one of the shoelaces of the second string pair of river shoes also has a fly embedded in it.

Healthy Brown 

After picking up the new gear and getting my rod all set-up, I was pretty eager for Friday morning to arrive. In hindsight, there's really no need to start fishing so early, as the fishing improved noticeably in the late morning, but I enjoy the winter morning's nipping my face and hands. Thursday night, as a I lay in bed, I had a tough time falling asleep and did a bit of self-reflection--about fly-fishing of course. I realized that for me, angling the Provo represents an inner struggle to feel connected to what made me happy and who I wanted to be growing up. I begged my grandparents, mother, father, and whoever else had a car, to drive me out to my grandparents' house on the East Fork of the Lewis River, and let me loose. Because this blog post is not about my childhood nor my motivation for fishing the Provo as much as possible, I'll end on this final point:

It's important to recognize the underlying value that fly-fishing and the pursuit of fish represents to one's self. Don't skip over this value representation. Also, keep your gear simple...don't be afraid to switch out your wading boots for your first string river shoes, it will increase your awareness of the underlying value.

On that note, I arrived Friday morning earlier than need be, and it was just me and the river--a few others arrived about 3-4 hours later. The river levels on the Middle Provo are as good as it gets--especially compared to my last outing. The water temperature has not dropped enough to cause fish to leave the riffles for the deeper and slower sections, but several of the large browns that I caught seemed a little more lethargic than a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps this is due to their post-spawn activity.

The fishing started out a little slow, I managed to catch several small to midsize browns--I think there's a photo where you can see some snow in the fish and my hands. My line and the guides were collecting ice and I was fortunate enough to have remembered my lip balm, which help to stave off the build-up of ice. Sometimes in our haste to just fish, we forget to study our surroundings--at least I am guilty of this. The slow fishing helped me to take a step back and breathe in the frosty scenery and the snow-dusted distant mountains.  I was able to take several nice photographs--I apologize for not being a better photographer.

 

Once the weather warmed up, the fishing went wild and the quality of total fish caught is only one of the new benchmarks set. The other being a new personal record for the biggest overall brown caught on the Provo. Though he measured in a hair under 20 inches, his overall girth was impressive. One of the interesting occurrences of fishing the Provo so far is that I have met more interesting people than I have in more orthodox social settings. While hooked into this beautiful fish, I had not noticed that a young man, who is from Montana, observing the whole thing. I managed to net the fish--thank GOD!, and he came over and asked if I wanted a photo-op. Though the photo didn't turn out all that well--the sun was right to my back and created a horrendous glare, it was a very nice gesture on his part. Most of the time, I barely manage to get a half-decent shot of anything that I catch. He mentioned that what ended up being the fish taking my nymph, he thought for sure that I had snagged a submerged stick or rock. He realized that I had a huge brown on and had to come see the fish for himself. The fish proved to be a great fight and I am grateful that I was able to land him, get a video, and meet Montana.

Last Fish of the Day 

I managed to hook and land another large Brown, which offered a perfect out to the end the day. It is very difficult to gauge the size of the fish that I am catching from photos and videos, but the fish in the picture is actually not as long nor as thick as the fish in the video, which is my new benchmark.

Throughout the day, I saw plenty of anglers using streamers and according to Montana, he watched quite a few of them fish and hadn't seen them have much success. I talked to guy in Sportsman's Warehouse and he says that he's had success with green and purple colored streamers lately. Take it for what it's worth. Streamer fishing is suppose to pick up in the coming days and I look forward to giving it a go. Until then, it's nymphing for the win.

First video--largest fish. In video, I short change the fish by two inches.
Second video--another very large brown caught. I honestly can't remember its measurements.