Evening on the Provo River - Big Brown

Amid all the chaos there is still solitude to be found. I needed the time on the river to decompress. The job is breathing down our neck and hammering us on a daily basis, but we are still working in the middle of this mess so we count our blessings!

I was headed south to Utah Lake and Provo Marina but it started to look stormy down that way so I turned east and headed for the canyon. I was planning on hitting a spot on the lower Provo that I had fished a lot in the past but hadn't fished in a couple years. I pulled into the Timp park thinking I would just turn around to go to the spot I was thinking of but then stopped and looked at the stretch below Murdock diversion and thought let's try it. I hadn't fished this stretch much and some of it never.

I got on the river and fished a couple decent looking holes and produced nothing. So I moved upriver and threw up under the walking bridge and my spinner no more than hit the water and had a fish on. A nice brown trout. I threw a few more casts into the area and didn't get anything. So I moved into the washout basin of the spillway. A nice shallow pond of calm water with some ripples out the end of it.

I cast for about an hour into the waters and kept getting hits and follows. I had 3 follow my lure right up to me but wouldn't take it. I felt confident so I stayed with the spinner and kept throwing. After watching a number of fish roll and gulp bluewings off the surface I thought I was out of luck and wish I had my fly gear with me. Note to self-put a fly rod in the car. I snagged some debris from the bottom and thought I had another online but no, and cast back out and this time it hit. It hard! When I saw it roll I got excited it was a beast. The lower section doesn't house many quality fish but this one was pure quality. I played it but kept the line tight so as not to lose it. I was fishing my ultralight with 4 lb test line. It gave a good fight but I prevailed and landed it! Definitely the largest I had caught in the lower section. I took a quick pic and released it into an eddy and let it rest there for a few minutes before coaxing back into the current. It swam away with good strength. I had perma grin for a bit after that battle. It was a good evening on the river with only two fish but the one was worth a dozen!

Fishing Lower Provo River and Deer Creek

Today Shifty and I took the afternoon off and went fishing. Our first stop was the Lower Provo River just above the Olmstead Diversion. We were tossing jerk baits, spinners, and spoons. We got on the water around 1:30pm after Shifty found his balaclava. We both started off with jerk baits and moved up and down the river bank looking for a hit.

The weather wasn't the greatest, we had rain, sleet, small hail pellets, and wind pretty much all at the same time. We changed lures as we moved up and down the bank. Shifty braved the water in his hip waders to possibly get a better angle on the fish. I tried to stay dry and on the bank with all the weather I still got wet.

I finally put on a Kastmaster and had a few swings at the lure. I changed colors and still just a swing and a miss. I changed color and size and got one to engage. The hit was fun but small and the fish was just that fun and small. A little brown trout but it knocked the skunk off the trip. We fished for just a few more minutes and got nothing so we decided to go fish Deer Creek.

We arrived at Snows Marina and hiked down the bank and started throwing lures. The weather had calmed down but the wind was still screaming. We walked to the end of the shoreline trail and fished many holes along the way out and back. Didn't get a hit. We moved to the state marina and fished the small cove between the ramp and Sailboat Beach for about an hour, the same results. Shifty bushwacked around the small cove and I drove around to meet him at the point on Sailboat Beach, by the time he made through the thick willows he was spent but he didn't give up still throwing lures and trying to get a hit. I put on a go-to Kastmaster thinking just maybe I would coax one into joining me on the beach. No such luck! It was late and the wind was still screaming and we called it. Got one on the river and the banks of Deer Creek are still beguiling.

Ice Off Fishing in the West Desert

Thursday morning I decided to head west for a solo trip and think about what and where I needed to be and go for a while. Solo also means I think about those that are not with me any longer. Days like these are needed to refocus and think about the things that are important. Friends and family that have passed sometimes haunt me and I need to getaway. I miss my friends that have passed on and the memories we shared.

I went into the west desert to a small impound reservoir that holds some very nice brown trout plus stocked rainbow and tiger trout. I was searching for brown trout. I got a very late start but I was still confident I could catch some fish. Arriving at the lake at noon after an hour trip through the Pony Express Trail and other dirt roads on the way. The PET is a fun trail and it runs from just west of Utah Lake and goes through the West Desert all the way to the Utah/Nevada border and beyond. Today I ran the short part between Fairfield and Faust before heading southwest to the lake.

I walked out onto the dam and fished the deeper section of the lake. I started with jerk baits and quickly changed colors and sizes trying to get a hit. I put on a crankbait, but it dove too deep and I hung it on a rock. It popped off and floated to the surface only to be retrieved later as the wind blew it to shore. I tried spinners and finally went to my go-to Kastmaster lures.

After hooking on a Kastmaster I finally got a rainbow trout to hit and brought it to the bank. It had hooked itself up good but after getting it untangled it was released and swam away. I tried more colors and sizes looking for another strike. I put on an old favorite color of silver/green and on the second cast hooked up my second rainbow trout. a quick pic and release I fished for a few more minutes but had to get on the road to make it back to the valley for a meeting.

This day was needed to clear my thoughts and get recentered for things coming up. Take care and stay focused on the things that matter most.

Ice Fishing Rockport Reservoir

Thursday morning came early for both of us, Shifty had an early delivery to the airport at 3am and I just woke up at 2:30 am for no apparent reason. We planned on meeting at 5 am and heading to Rockport. Shifty had never ice fished it. So we met up and headed up the canyon in the darkness of the morning. We pulled into Heber and the sun was inching up at least a little glow and by the time we reached the lake, we could see across it. We unloaded the gear and decided which direction to go. We decided to head toward the dam and we stopped at the first small bay where this summer the fish had been hitting well.