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| Snow on the horizon |
One out of two 'aint bad and while I have skimped on blog posting, I have not skimped on outings on the Provo. The caddis hatch is in full force, water levels are ideal, and quality fish are to be had. In the last two outings, I have averaged at least two browns per outing that are over 20 inches. Earlier this week (Tuesday), I caught a 25 inch brown that dwarfed my net. Between matching the caddis hatch and nymphing, you should be into the fish from start to finish.
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| Early morning brown |
I also enjoy this time of year as one of Utah's native fish start to migrate upsteam to their spawning areas. Don't sleep on Mountain Whitefish Prosopiam williamsoni, who provide a formidable challenge using a 5 wt or smaller rod. Mountain Whitefish play an important ecological role, as their thousands of will drift downstream, much to the delight of Browns and important populations of subsurface species of insects. Last Friday, I caught my first autumn whitefish and it put up a ferocious all-out fight. If you nymph for Browns this time of year, there's a great chance you'll run into a whitefish, especially in riffles.
Last Friday was a stark reminder that winter is right around the corner. The Middle experienced some frozen rain and the peaks of mountains revealed a dusting a snow. I look forward to winter's solace on the Provo, but it comes with a price.
Are you still fishing the Provo river?
ReplyDeleteI have been 3 times in the last two weeks.
ReplyDeleteThe first time out, the water levels were a little bit lower and the fishing was excellent, despite some challenging wind conditions. Fish were taking nymphs and if you prefer dry flies, about a size 20 BWO. I believe I caught somewhere in teens and the very first fish that I caught, was a cutty, which rare for me.
The second and third times out were a much different story and the water levels were noticeably higher since my first outing in the last two weeks. I believed I averaged a fish an hour the second outing and it was slightly less this last Monday. There are some intermittent BWO hatches--on the light side, still going on and if you grab a submerged branch and inspect it, you'll see it is teeming with various subsurface insects.
The water is still on the cold side and fish can be found in slower moving water. Once it heats up and the water temp starts to increase, the browns will continue to spread out and the fishing will pick up, especially when the water levels start to drop some. We have some epic hatches coming up in several weeks or maybe even slightly less. With the epic mayfly hatches come the crowds, so be prepared.
Also, though there's about a zero chance that this guy reads this blog, a big thanks to the angler who gave me some sunscreen earlier this week--the one item I forgot.
Happy angling and feel free to ask questions--though I am no expert.
-B