Wednesday, November 14, 2012

November 13, 2012: Middle Provo Fishing Report: Mountain Whitefish and Brown Trout Redemption




Middle Provo Fishing Report--Many anglers make the mistake of turning in their gear for the winter once the snow hits and we experience a significant drop in temperature. Sure, the ice build-up on your floating line and guides are minor hindrances, but the tradeoff is well worth it. Yesterday's (November 13) fishing excursion proves it. I arrived on the Middle Provo a little after 8 a.m. and the fishing was hot as soon as sunlight hit the water (nymphing). The same can be said for later on in the day. As soon as sunlight left the water, the action dropped off noticeably.


There are still intermittent hatches of BWOs and some of other, extremely small flying insects once the air warms up a bit (After 1 p.m.; Depending on the temperature). Many of the small insects collect on snow and I recommend inspecting patches of snow to better identify the small, black bodied and light, wing--colored insects that I am speaking of. These hatches occur during the late afternoon, causing a lot of great surface action. I can't tell you the exact colors as the smaller, dark bodied insects (colorblind), but you'll want to come prepared with the smallest dry flies possible. Since September's caddis hatch, I have not observed any sizable flying insects.

One of the more remarkable experiences of nymphing on the Middle Provo has been the occasional hooking into the actual nymph my fly is imitating. That, or if you hook into a submerged stick and happen to free your set-up and closely inspect it, you're sure to spot a green bodied baetis nymph. Their presence on the river bottom continues to support the use of split-shot weight, which means you'll want to ditch the bead-head nymphs, unless you are particularly fond of river wading.


Fish Summary.

I caught many good-sized browns with the largest being 17 inches. Easily double-digits on the total quantity caught.  

While I was not able to land him, I hooked into the largest fish I have seen on the Provo (lower and middle). It was a whitefish and while these are commonly considered to be less desirable than browns, these fish play an important ecological role in the Provo and the many other Rocky Mountain rivers they inhabit. This particular fish took me down a section of runs and then back up into the original hole, before taking me back down two runs. Ultimately, the smaller tippet material connecting my trailer nymph to the lead nymph likely frayed during the battle and he ultimately broke free, but not before we duked it our for over 20 minutes. Our epic fight also resulted in meeting a nice angler, named Mike, who asked if I was using a 7 wt rod. I replied that I had a 5 wt rod and that I had been at the mercy of this fish, traveling up and down the river, from the time he parked his SUV, until now. We managed to disrupt the run Mike was fishing, but he said it had been fairly slow--wrong set-up, and that my "running up and down the river," was cheap entertainment. Later, I'd talk to Mike for a good bit and it turns out he's a recent transplant from New York, who mostly salt water fly-fished before moving to Utah. I wish I could have shot some footage of the fight. On more than one occasion, I thought the fish was starting to give in and I was able to start moving in on the fish, while it was holding in shallower water. As soon as neared, the whitefish would make another run. God only knows how much longer it would have taken to land him. To be honest, my ankles took a beating from my river travels and I'm not sure how many more up and down runs I could have withstood. 



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