From: 08/03/2017
To: 08/04/2017
Type of Water: Freshwater
Species: Rainbow trout, Brown trout
Living just minutes from the Henry's Fork and the South Fork of the Snake in southeast Idaho, I don't usually find reason to drive far to find world class fly fishing. But having family down south, a few times each year I will make the trek down to the Provo River in Utah's Heber Valley, East of the ski town of Park City. The middle Provo is a shining success story of how individuals and organizations can work together to rehabilitate an ecosystem, and create a world class fishery from what once was an ecological disaster. Throughout a decade or so during the 70's and the 80's, a fishery that had been all but destroyed a century earlier by thoughtless gold dredging was rebuilt, reshaped, and managed into what is today one of the finest stretches of catch and release trout water I have ever View more...Living just minutes from the Henry's Fork and the South Fork of the Snake in southeast Idaho, I don't usually find reason to drive far to find world class fly fishing. But having family down south, a few times each year I will make the trek down to the Provo River in Utah's Heber Valley, East of the ski town of Park City. The middle Provo is a shining success story of how individuals and organizations can work together to rehabilitate an ecosystem, and create a world class fishery from what once was an ecological disaster. Throughout a decade or so during the 70's and the 80's, a fishery that had been all but destroyed a century earlier by thoughtless gold dredging was rebuilt, reshaped, and managed into what is today one of the finest stretches of catch and release trout water I have ever had the pleasure to cast a fly on.
This time around we fished the tail water below Deer Creek Reservoir, along Highway 189. Because of its relatively easy access from Salt Lake City and the city of Provo, this stretch of the Provo River tends to get crowded with recreational users through the hotter summer months. Fishing during the week is always preferable, but really, the abundant trout in this gem of a river are accustomed to the flotillas of people on inner tubes, paddle boards and kayaks, and I have hooked trophy fish right behind noisy, splashing groups of kids during the hottest part of the day. Much like the average Utah citizen, these trout are not very fussy,
We were there a little early for the grasshopper season, though I did see a few small hoppers on the trail down to the river. But through the morning and mid-day the fish ignored anything larger than a size 18 midge, Adams, or PMD. What they really liked was a local pattern called the mother shucker, in a size 20 hook. The always friendly guys at the fly shop on Main Street in Heber City told me the mother shucker is a spring time fly, but no one told the trout that. They keyed on it throughout the morning and mid day, fished behind a larger PMD or Adams.
After the sun went behind the Wasatch Range late in the afternoon, everything changed. From that point on it was all about the caddis. A small, grey variety started coming off first, and a #16 tent-wing or black-bodied Henry's Fork caddis worked well. The later it got however, and the larger varieties of naturals started popping, a #12 yellow bodied elk hair caddis was the main attraction. Fished in any crease or seam, we steadily caught 14 to 19" browns, and even a couple of 20" fish, until well after dark.
The Heber Valley can be reached in about 30 minutes from Salt Lake City, and even less from Provo. There are plenty of lodging options, and non-fishing recreational activities nearby, including camping, hiking, biking, and ATV trails in the Wasatch Mountain State Park, and the Uinta National Forest; and shopping in the factory outlet stores in and around Park City.
