Utah Fly Fishing

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Fly Fishing on the Provo River
The Provo River is one of America’s best rivers. It boasts stretches of 3,000 fish per mile and has extensive public access along the 25 miles of Blue Ribbon quality river. The Provo River supplies diverse hatches of mayflies, caddis, stoneflies and midges providing anglers with daily opportunities to cast a fly at actively feeding fish. Fisherman can catch fish on the Provo 363 days a year. Jordanelle Reservoir at the north end of the scenic Heber Valley is the first in a series of two dams on the Provo River. The water controlled by the variable release dam optimizes temperatures to grow trophy brown, rainbow, and cutthroat trout year-round. This tailwater fishery has minimum flow requirements to maintain the high quality fishing experience, even during severe drought years. The Provo River has excellent access for anglers of all walks of life. There are access points within 30 feet of the rivers bank so that everyone has an opportunity to fish, or a three quarter mile walk-in for adventurous souls on Utah’s premier trout fishery. The Provo River is within 45 minutes of Salt Lake City, 15 minutes of Park City and 35 minutes of Provo.

Almost 30 miles of river for uncrowded Blue Ribbon Fly Fishing.

Provo Rainbow

The Strawberry River, sometimes referred to as a little bit of New Zealand in Utah’s, is a fine alternative to the Provo. Anglers can hunt for large browns in a small stream setting. The water if often quite clear and provides for great sight fishing challenges.

Blacksmith Fork – There are more fly fishing shops in the Cache Valley than anywhere else in Utah, according to fishing guide Steve Schmidt, author of Steve Schmidt’s Non Nonsense Guide to Fly Fishing in Utah.
The reason? A rich selection of quality trout fishing waters. Wild brown and cutthroat trout, as well as stocked rainbows, are found here in good numbers.

“A medium-sized piece of water by western standards, the Blacksmith Fork is, nevertheless, a diverse and challenging fishery,” Schmidt explains.

“From a small, sub-alpine stream gaining volume as it cascades through the canyon to the quality freestone water of the lower river, it offers a variety of options for the fly fisher. There is even a small section with spring creek-like conditions above a small hydroelectric dam about halfway downstream.”

Unfortunately, Blacksmith Fork has a history of being dewatered. In recent years with higher flows it has not been dewatered but it has a long history of total water removal during the summer irrigation season. Water users have the rights to the water and in dry years the stream for a few miles is dried up and fish become trapped in isolated pools. If there isn’t any flow the water warms, oxygen is depleted and eventually the fish die.

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