Day 1 2023 – Friday, January 13th – Middle Provo
A weird first start for the year. Went to the Middle Provo which is not very far from my Utah home. Got there at the perfect time. Pulled over onto the shoulder, which looked snow packed, or so I thought. My passenger side wheels had snow up to the wheel well. And it was trouble. Even it 4WD low, the tires just spun.
My fishing day started with a visit from a tow truck and they wenched my truck out of the snow. That whole deal took almost 2 hours and I wasn’t sure I was in the mood to fish any more. I decided to park in a safer place, even if I stuck out on the road a little. And, I rigged up my 3wt Scott G2. I had recently tied up a few midges with a CDC wing and also had a new furled leader made by Cutthroat Leaders I wanted to try. I knew I needed a long tippet. I was going to fish a gin clear tailwater and the Cutthroat furled leaders can make a splash, But I like them. I have fished them over many years, always on my 3wt. This leaders, once greased, float reliably like a cork. They have no memory and turnover really well. But, they are not stealth, not that a nylon leader be either. At 7.5′ long, they support a long tippet. When I go long with a tippet, I like to tie sections. This helps turnover too. So I added about 5′. 3′ of 5X, 2′ of 6.5X.
As I approached my favorite hole, I noticed several fish rising, but no signs of a hatch really and very little material on the surface of the water. This hole has mostly smaller fish in the 10-14″ range, but I enjoy fishing it just for the top water eats. I began cycling through a number of very small midge patterns – size 22-26 to see if there was something they liked. Changing out size, shape and color. Holding out hope for a midge emerger that I had recently tied with CDC. I typically don’t put floatant on my CDC, as I find it too heavy for the delicate feather and you lose the natural buoyancy. However, once the CDC and the dubbing was waterlogged after so many casts, the fly began to sink like a rock.
After an hour or so, a guy moved into the top of the hole. In Idaho, this would have been considered a crowding violation for certain. However, in Utah, particularly on the Provo, this is the new norm and most anglers have adjusted to it. Although he was only 60′ above me, he was polite and did not allow his fly to drift down into my area and I had enough fish around me that I felt that I had plenty of opportunity. For whatever reason, neither of us were able to figure it out. He was no amateur and I took some comfort in knowing that I wasn’t the only one struggling. I had had a few eats earlier but did not connect on any of them.
Eventually, I needed to see if tippet size was the culprit. I was using 6.5X Trout Hunter flouro, which should be fairly safe, but I was also using very small flies, 24’s and 26’s, so I added on a 2′ section of 8X. It produced another eat on the CDC midge emerger I tied and I did connect and land a small brown. And that was all I had to show for the day. The guy above me was completely shut-out and as he left was consoled each other. He showed my the flies he was using, all good imitations, but none smaller than a size 22. It made me realize that the eat I got where I connected was just incidental. I had not matched the hatch at all, I just got lucky. In fact, I don’t think there ever was a true “hatch” at all. Very few bugs on the water, or in the air for that matter. Rises were also very spotty with no particular pattern.
The Provo in winter still remains my nemesis. Any day on the water still beats a day sitting at home.
