Provo River/UT

[Karel]

I will be heading in 9 days to Park City/UT to visit family and plan to "escape" for two days, fishing the Provo River. From the research I have done online, it looks like the Middle and Lower Sections seem to have decent public access - and lots of fish :bigfish:

Has anybody been out there recently and have some intel on public access point and other useful tips?

Thanks so much and keep those lines tight!

 

[MACFLY]

I will be heading in 9 days to Park City/UT to visit family and plan to "escape" for two days, fishing the Provo River. From the research I have done online, it looks like the Middle and Lower Sections seem to have decent public access - and lots of fish :bigfish:

Has anybody been out there recently and have some intel on public access point and other useful tips?

Thanks so much and keep those lines tight!

I would focuse on the middle provo and just outside of Park City on your way to Heber City a section of the provo has undergone extensive stream rehabilitation. This water was great before that ever took place and since then its nothing short of phenomenal. Troutbum 2 has a shop on the outskirts of Park City and they can set you up with information and flys. Not sure when you are going or could provide more information. If you are more adventurous you can try Currant Creek which is about an hour from Park City. Small stream fishing but plenty of good sized cutts and Browns. Will dig up more specific information on the section of the provo I mentioned above. Its basically 10-15 minute drive from park city. Last time I fished had a beautiful brown on for about 2 minutes. He actually jumped 3 times and then ran like a freight train downstream and snapped the tippet. He is still in there for sure.

 

[Harry]

Karel,
Take Rt 40 towards Heber City you will hit a traffic light, go left and left again this will give you 3 or 4 parking areas along the river up to the Jordanelle Res. If you go right at the light there is a small lot on the right and a larger lot down on the left. You are going to experience high flows from the runoff. Streamers & Buggers in the slack water areas is your best bet. Have some Caddis, PMD's, Stone's, and Green Drakes( maybe a little to early), sow bugs and midges..

 

[Karel]

Thanks Macfly,

I was thinking I would fish at least for one day the Middle section and then maybe the Lower section or the Webber River. When I was last with the family up in PC (in the Winter) I visited Trout Bum 2 and I do like their shop a lot. I plan to stop in there for license and "stuff" but thought it might not hurt to ask here too where there is "no commercial interest", so to speak.

I remember some footage on tv about 2 or 3 years ago, they did some sort of a fly fishing competition there and ever since I wanted to go there and give it a shot myself. I was also hoping my brother-in-low would tag along, but he ripped his tendons in the knee on a double black diamond late in the season...

And if I only could hook up into some Cutts!!! Still waiting for RMNP to "thaw" up. This has been a very cold and wet Spring here on the Front Range, we had snow on Memorial Weekend up on 9000ft & above.

I shouldn't be complaining though, I was fishing Cheesman Canyon on Saturday and did pretty well . I will post some pics when I get them from my fishing buddy.

Tight Lines, Karel

 

[MACFLY]

Thanks Macfly,

I was thinking I would fish at least for one day the Middle section and then maybe the Lower section or the Webber River. When I was last with the family up in PC (in the Winter) I visited Trout Bum 2 and I do like their shop a lot. I plan to stop in there for license and "stuff" but thought it might not hurt to ask here too where there is "no commercial interest", so to speak.

I remember some footage on tv about 2 or 3 years ago, they did some sort of a fly fishing competition there and ever since I wanted to go there and give it a shot myself. I was also hoping my brother-in-low would tag along, but he ripped his tendons in the knee on a double black diamond late in the season...

And if I only could hook up into some Cutts!!! Still waiting for RMNP to "thaw" up. This has been a very cold and wet Spring here on the Front Range, we had snow on Memorial Weekend up on 9000ft & above.

I shouldn't be complaining though, I was fishing Cheesman Canyon on Saturday and did pretty well . I will post some pics when I get them from my fishing buddy.

Tight Lines, Karel

Looks like Harry pointed you in the right direction for the middle Provo. Lower Provo is nice with a lot of pocket water (at least where I fished it). Can be difficult to wade and is a bit crowded at times. Weber is a very nice river that has come back strong the last few years. I will mention it again..try a couple of the smaller streams (you can probably get some other suggestions at Troutbum or Western Rivers) CUrrant creek was a blast. Looks like Harry point you in the right direction for the spot I was thinking about.

 

[Karel]

Karel,
Take Rt 40 towards Heber City you will hit a traffic light, go left and left again this will give you 3 or 4 parking areas along the river up to the Jordanelle Res. If you go right at the light there is a small lot on the right and a larger lot down on the left. You are going to experience high flows from the runoff. Streamers & Buggers in the slack water areas is your best bet. Have some Caddis, PMD's, Stone's, and Green Drakes( maybe a little to early), sow bugs and midges..

Gotcha, thanks. Looked up google earth and I think going on the left would be the old Hwy 40 to the dam and going right would be turning onto River Rd.
Will post a report when I get back!

 

[Karel]

Got home Sunday evening from a few days in Park City/UT with the family and I was able to sneak away Thursday and Friday for about 7h each to fish the Provo River. Armed with additional intel and flies from Trout Bum 2, I headed to the Middle Section of the Provo and fished at the one of the Provo Restoration Project’s access points. The flow was high at a little bit above 800cfs and I had to look for the softer water and seems to dip my nymphs into the water. The weather was funky, they have a really wet spring with lots of rain and thunderstorms. Runoff was pretty much done, just a bit snow left all the way up on the mountain tops, but Jordanlle reservoir is choke full and releases a lot of water. Water clarity was excellent, I would guess 3-4 feet down. Hooked up fairly quickly with 3 nice browns and a bigger bow (got away), it slowed down a bit afterwards but both days still yielded 25 hookups. Had to go heavy and deep, which definitively helped in the afternoons when the wind picked up. Winning nymphs were caddis larvae, sowbugs and RS2. Overall two beautiful days on the river in a gorgeous setting. Sorry no pics, didn’t realize until fishing was over that my cameraphone does not automatically save the pix and I needed to save each individual one…