November 26, 2012: Middle Provo Fishing Report: Water levels, water temperature, and Huge Browns, oh my!

Middle Provo River Fishing Report: Fishing continues to be excellent on the Middle Provo. Water temperatures on the Middle Provo are hovering around 43 F. Nymphing with small baetis nymph patterns and dark-bodied midges (a hint of flash) has produced quality fish from late morning, as soon as the sunlight hits the water, to early evening, or as soon as the sunlight is off the water.  

Compared to outings earlier this month and last, the Middle Provo's water levels were noticeably higher, though water visibility and the quality of fishing did not seem affected, as would normally be the case. For dry fly guys, there's plenty of surface action towards the latter half of the day, until there's a slight change in the temperature. As noted in previous reports, you'll want to go small and then some. I am still meaning to take a few quality pictures to share and intend to do so tomorrow, when I'll get a chance to fish for a few hours.

With the basic fishing conditions out of the way, this is the hottest fishing I have experienced so far. The overall quality of the fish caught was amazing! The colder water dramatically increased my ability to land very large browns, whereas in September, many of these browns would have taken nearly 20 minutes or longer to land. Within 10-15 minutes, I was able to net large fish, take pictures, and release them. If you get a chance to fish the Middle Provo and you decide to nymph, it's critical that you constantly free your flies of any algae. It may be a slight inconvenience, but it's an important detail that makes all the difference.

One of the unfortunate observations that seems to have worsened some lately, is all of the trash that's being left along the riverbank. There's only so much one man can haul back with him! Who knows, you might find some hidden treasures that have been left amongst the litter. So far, I have found two boxes of flies, two  high-quality nets, several leaders, and a package of strike indicators. This is not to say that the anglers who dropped these are the same ones littering, but rather, keeping an eye out for trash on the way home occasionally leads to stumbling across some goodies.

For those of you who have emailed me questions regarding the blog, fishing tips, etc., I plan on addressing these in an upcoming blog post. I appreciate the comments and I especially appreciate the advice! I want to thank Jim H. from Provo for giving me some pointers on streamer fishing and I plan on giving it a go next week. Would be great to add some variation to my arsenal. Also, I am planning on purchasing some better gear to take pictures and record videos. I am thinking about picking up the GoPro Hero 3 black edition and if anyone has some experience, I would appreciate your review/ opinion. Feel free to email me at info@provoriverflyguy.com