# Middle Provo 7/16



## americanforkdude (Sep 13, 2007)

Fished the middle provo last night with a buddy and did fairly well. Caught fish on a little big of everything. Caddis's seemed to catch the most but adams, stimulators, mesquitos, and a few nymphs seemed to hit the spot. All fish were reasonably small compared to past couple years in the same spot. Don't know whats going on up there but fish sure keep dropping noticeably in size. Me and my buddy had a contest to see who was buying drinks after. He had a good 6 fish lead on me but once the sun started to drop it was fish on after fish on. Finally left the river tied up and I still suckered him into buying the drinks. Good time on the river though. There was next to no pressure up there last night. Lot of mequitos bites on the body today though.


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## hunterfisher (Sep 14, 2007)

Nice report. im gonna try to head up there tonight.


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## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Glad you caught some fish!! We talked a lot about this a while back.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10985&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=stunted+browns+provo
IMHO they need to loosen the regs up there and get some bio mass out of the river. There are some really nice fish left in there but there are too many little ones also.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

sounds like an awesome night. I wish I were in Utah right now I'd be up there with some flies right now. I don't mind the smaller fish so much. I just like catching things. However I must say, I catch and eat my bag limit every time I go. Just trying to help the cause of bigger fish. Or I love to eat FRESH fish and I do agree there are too many for the river to support. IMO redd stomping, as suggested in the other post, is not necessary. Just keep a few every once in a while.


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## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

What is the limit up there anyway? I had some smoked from there once and it was pretty good.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

Nor-tah said:


> What is the limit up there anyway? I had some smoked from there once and it was pretty good.


2 under 15 inches.


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## doody (Apr 2, 2009)

I hate to keep blurting it out but......GREEN DRAKES GREEN DRAKES GREEN DRAKES!!!! If you want to have a 20 fish day where the SMALLEST fish you catch is 15", then head to the upper section of the Middle Provo within the next 5-6 days.

The Green Drake is a giant mayfly and the bigger fish absolutely muscle out the smaller fish when this hatch is going on. I've been up nearly every day for the last 10 days and it is absolutely the best hatch of the year. In those 10 days I've probably had 10 fish over 20" with the majority being in the 17-18" range. In fact, this has been the best Green Drake hatch fishing I've seen in 5 years, its THAT good.

The hatch is begining around 11am and lasting til 2pm. Fish are up on PMDs and hoppers near the banks once the Drakes taper off. If you want big numbers of BIG fish, now is the time.

Did i mention the Green Drake hatch is on?


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## doody (Apr 2, 2009)

Oh yeah, I too agree that more people should take their limit. That river, as I understand it, has 4-5,000 fish / mile and we'd all hate to see it stunted. Plus, wild browns taste so **** good from a dutch oven.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

I've been in Alabama all summer and it's been killing me not getting on the rivers. It looks like I'll be back at the end of the month for a couple of days. When does the green drake hatch end? I'd like to hit it if possible but will also be happy to just get on some western water.


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## HopperLover (Jul 7, 2008)

I've noticed smaller fish also. It's been going on for a few years. I was at a DWR presentation about five years ago, and they were concerned about too many small fish on the Middle Provo. Back then, the river hadn't fully recovered from the reconstruction (it's still probably not fully recovered), and that was the partial reason for small fish. However, a guy at the DWR mentioned that there might _always_ be an overabundance of small fish on the Middle Provo, even when the river fully recovers, unless anglers keep more fish. That is because, as he described it, that the river has been widened, and there are lots of side channels. That means that the smaller fish can escape predators easily by having lots of shallower water and side channels to escape to. Thus, there are many more small fish. Also, he mentioned that the sculpin population was almost wiped out by the reconstruction, and might take 15 years to fully recover. The sculpins were always a major source of food for larger fish, and if that population is lower then the bigger fish will suffer. The old channelized river actually was perfect for producing large fish, as the high flows at runoff would naturally kill a lot of the small fish that couldn't handle the high flows, and the channelized river provided less shallow water for the smaller fish to escape to. At least that was how it was explained - don't ask me 'cause I ain't no biologist. But it kind of makes sense what they said.


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

doody said:


> I hate to keep blurting it out but......GREEN DRAKES GREEN DRAKES GREEN DRAKES!!!! If you want to have a 20 fish day where the SMALLEST fish you catch is 15", then head to the upper section of the Middle Provo within the next 5-6 days.
> 
> The Green Drake is a giant mayfly and the bigger fish absolutely muscle out the smaller fish when this hatch is going on. I've been up nearly every day for the last 10 days and it is absolutely the best hatch of the year. In those 10 days I've probably had 10 fish over 20" with the majority being in the 17-18" range. In fact, this has been the best Green Drake hatch fishing I've seen in 5 years, its THAT good.
> 
> ...


sorry but i am going to call BS on this right now.


> In those 10 days I've probably had 10 fish over 20" with the majority being in the 17-18" range.


 Where do I purchase on of them rubber tape measures? :roll:


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## sinergy (Mar 6, 2008)

flyguy7 said:


> doody said:
> 
> 
> > I hate to keep blurting it out but......GREEN DRAKES GREEN DRAKES GREEN DRAKES!!!! If you want to have a 20 fish day where the SMALLEST fish you catch is 15", then head to the upper section of the Middle Provo within the next 5-6 days.
> ...


+1 on the BS


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## doody (Apr 2, 2009)

Flyguy7, you obviously know a lot more about fishing than I do, which is why I find it funny that you'd call BS. You obviously know the draw this hatch makes to this area and you, of all people, should know its because of the fast fishing and the large fish that this hatch is capable of producing.

You can call BS all you'd like but I dont think one 20 inch fish per day, with many, many other large, healthy fish caught is all that much of a fish tale. You know the area, and you know that every year these fish get bigger and healthier, especially with the amount of insect life we're seeing up there right now.

So, why all the hate?

P.s. I'll check the measurements on the Scott rod I bought from you a while back and make sure they're not a little off. :wink:


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## flyguy7 (Sep 16, 2007)

I hate to sound bitter but im just so disappointed in the middle anymore. The river is just not the quality experience it used to be. I have seen some very nice fish landed the past couple of weeks but the overall size on the river is still low (as compared to the years shortly after the construction of Jordanelle). Do you remember the giant rainbows that would be up on drakes in the Casperville-Sewer Treatment stretch? Now the only rainbows you see down there is the ocasional lake fish with worn fins that has never made it back down to Deer Creek after spawning. Granted, there is a huge variable on where you fish as to what size of fish you catch. Highway 40 to the dam still holds some healthy fish but that is just a small percentage of the river. 

My biggest gripe about the drakes is that it brings so many people to the river that it is a big sh*t show of people and brings out the worst in them. I counted 31 cars the other day at the bunny farm and 24 cars at river road south. If you figure 2 anglers to every car you are looking at 110 anglers fishing roughly a two mile stretch of river. That is an angler every 96 feet of river. Last time I was down there, clients landed 7 fish in a row that were "clown faced" (missing a mandible on one side or the other). I fully believe that you are getting some hogs in there. I have seen them. And if you know what to look for they are pretty easy to find as they don't hold in much of the same water that many of the other fish hang in. My concern is more for the average fish river wide. There are most certainly certain areas that hold more big fish than others but from top to bottom the average fish is poor. I think that the river from hwy 40 up is pretty good shape, but from 40 all the way to deer creek is a different story. 

Not a Sage?! Why would you ever buy a Scott? :wink: :wink:


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## HopperLover (Jul 7, 2008)

flyguy7 said:


> I hate to sound bitter but im just so disappointed in the middle anymore. The river is just not the quality experience it used to be. I have seen some very nice fish landed the past couple of weeks but the overall size on the river is still low (as compared to the years shortly after the construction of Jordanelle). Do you remember the giant rainbows that would be up on drakes in the Casperville-Sewer Treatment stretch? Now the only rainbows you see down there is the ocasional lake fish with worn fins that has never made it back down to Deer Creek after spawning. Granted, there is a huge variable on where you fish as to what size of fish you catch. Highway 40 to the dam still holds some healthy fish but that is just a small percentage of the river.
> 
> My biggest gripe about the drakes is that it brings so many people to the river that it is a big sh*t show of people and brings out the worst in them. I counted 31 cars the other day at the bunny farm and 24 cars at river road south. If you figure 2 anglers to every car you are looking at 110 anglers fishing roughly a two mile stretch of river. That is an angler every 96 feet of river. Last time I was down there, clients landed 7 fish in a row that were "clown faced" (missing a mandible on one side or the other). I fully believe that you are getting some hogs in there. I have seen them. And if you know what to look for they are pretty easy to find as they don't hold in much of the same water that many of the other fish hang in. My concern is more for the average fish river wide. There are most certainly certain areas that hold more big fish than others but from top to bottom the average fish is poor. I think that the river from hwy 40 up is pretty good shape, but from 40 all the way to deer creek is a different story.
> 
> Not a Sage?! Why would you ever buy a Scott? :wink: :wink:


flyguy7,

I completely agree. I still love the Middle Provo, and to be honest, I spend most of my time below river road. The numbers of small fish is seriously disappointing. We really need to think about keeping some fish, otherwise live with it. I still love the river, but half the love I have is just for the environment there, and the overall experience of just being on a river.

Here's a little tip for other anglers: the green drake hatch is wonderful, but the small stonefly hatch is just as good, and overall a better hatch for me, because it is soooo ignored by all other anglers. I was there a week ago, and was a few miles downstream of river road south parking lot. I fished the small stonefly hatch and had a ball. Nobody was there, just myself. The fish were on my size 10 stonefly like flies on dog poop. Yes, I wish the average size of the fish was bigger. But while every Tom, Dick, and Harry are upstream squeezing in for the drake hatch, I was downstream alone. I hooked easily 30 fish that day - all on the surface. Mostly 12" range, but a few big boys came up also. One thing to mention however, is that the small stonefly hatch takes some experience to learn it. Some days they prefer the bigger stones - like this year a size 10 was working. Some days they key on the smaller stones - last year I had better success going smaller with a size 16. Also, you have to hit it while the stones are hatching - NOT when they are returning to the river to lay eggs.

Anyway, I rarely give out river secrets, but this hatch (small golden stonefly, aka, yellow sallie hatch) is a nice treat. And since it happens downstream (all the way down to deer creek) while upstream the drakes are happening, you can literally have the river to yourself - I have been doing it the past 4 years, and have yet to see more than another angler or two at most. This year and last year I had huge sections to myself. The fly shops have been talking about this hatch for years and how great it can be - but everybody prefers to be upstream on the drakes. So I won't worry about this post generating a secret - it is a secret that gets ignored.


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## caddisguy (Sep 10, 2007)

Too many people fishing the Middle on the 24th to do any serious fishing. The inner tube hatch was going full bore. Just below Timpanogos Park about dark the water was down and I walked to the river in my sandals and shorts. I put on a Caddis with a hare’s ear nymph dropper. In 30 minutes I caught two brown 10” on the dropper. Stepping over a myriad of trash, I picked up a bag full; I bushwhacked back to the truck. Unfortunately I didn’t see the patch of stinging nettle until I was in the middle of it, next time I will take time to pull on my waders. The fish I caught looked fat and healthy not skinny or stunted.


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## LOAH (Sep 29, 2007)

caddisguy-

I believe you may have confused the Middle with the Lower. Timpanogos Park is just a couple of bends into Provo Canyon and that would be the Lower. In fact, that's in the general regulations area of the Lower. Not trying to call you out, just letting you know.

A lot of folks get the sections mixed up because of all the confusing reg changes up and down the river. I seem to get 'reported' or confronted a lot because someone is sure that I'm breaking the law by drifting a worm where it is perfectly legal.

The Middle is between Deer Creek and Jordanelle. I might add that the biggest browns I've ever caught came from the same hole, one after another in the general regs section of the Middle.

[attachment=1:2nhz1n6z]IMGP4062.jpg[/attachment:2nhz1n6z]

[attachment=0:2nhz1n6z]IMGP4065.jpg[/attachment:2nhz1n6z]

Nothing skinny about those pigs, but I'll agree that there are plenty of dinks in there too, especially the nubby rainbows from DC.


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