It seems unnatural. Throwing flies in the winter simply doesn't seem seasonably correct, like throwing snowballs in July.
Drive through Provo Canyon, however, on a good day and watch the river's edge. There are almost as many flies airborne now as in the summer . . . but these are hand-tied flies of thread, feathers and beads, and connected to a "5X" tippet on a floating flyline.Fly fishing doesn't stop with fall or winter, or with snow and ice, or with lower flows from reservoirs or dams. It's an anytime-sport for those willing to try.
Last week on the Provo, under near-spring temperatures, fly fishermen took to the Provo like flies to a summer picnic. On some stretches it was sometimes difficult not to tangle lines. On one section, which ran about a block and featured some spawning beds and a nice elbow of deep water, a dozen fishermen had picked out their stations.
They cast upstream, tried for the natural drift, worked the line, watched, and would then cast upstream again. It didn't seem to bother them that before the drift had ended there was a new line and fly in the same flow and starting to drift.
This is because the Provo has a reputation for good, tough fishing. Also, it's close to lots of people. From the center of Salt Lake City it's less than a hour from startup to first cast.
It is also one of Utah's few remaining "Blue Ribbon" streams. Fish in the Provo from Deer Creek dam downstream about 10 miles, are protected from all but lure and fly fishermen. And even those fishermen, if they choose, can keep only two browns under 15 inches, and no cutthroat or rainbow.
But fishing on the Provo is tough. There are a lot of fish in this river, but like most rivers that are fished often, the fish tend to be wiser. They instantly know what looks real and what isn't, and whatflows naturally and what doesn't.
So the secret, says Pat Milburn of Angler's Inn, is to present the fly "naturally." And, of course, the right ones.
"At this time of year you'll want to fish with nymphs. Occasionally, on real warm, sunny days you may want to try a surface fly. A nymph worked along the bottom, though, is dynamite," he said.
The cast should be a comfortable distance upstream, anywhere from straight up to slightly across the stream. The secret is, again, in the drift. The rod tip should be held up - to keep a minimum amount of line in the water - and there should be slack in the line in the shape of "Ss."
In rigging the line, the nymph can be tied on the end with a split shot about 12 inches up. Or, for the better fishermen, the shot can be placed and the end, with two droppers, each with a different fly, placed about a foot apart.
"The problem some fishermen have is they don't put on enough weight to get the nymph down. If there's not enough the fly will drift over the fish, and if there's too much it will hang up. It may take one, two, three split shot . . . use whatever it takes to get it moving along the bottom," he adds.
An often used technique frowned on by the fly-fishing purist, is to use a fly with spin-casting gear. Some anglers will take spinning and fly rod, and use whichever works best. Placing the split shot on the end and hanging two droppers works well with spinning gear.
What Milburn recommends, too, is for fishermen to look past the Provo during the colder months and see what's out there.
"There are a lot of good waters," he points out . . . Like:
Weber River. It offers some excellent winter fishing. It's best with nymphs, but can be fished with spinning gear with baits or nymphs tipped with a wax worm.
Ogden River. It's low in the winter and the fish are a little spooky. There are a lot of browns in the river and they do like dry flies and nymphs.
Blacksmith Fork. This is a good nymph water, and can be good with dry flies on warmer days.
Currant Creek. This is a good place to fish nymphs.
Fish Creek. This, too, is a good nymph water.
And, of course, the Green River. Glow Bugs and nymphs work well, but so do jigs, Rapalas and flies on a spinning rod.
"There are a lot of good waters out there beside the Provo. It might pay to consider some of the other spot.
"The Weber, for example, offers good whitefish fishing in the winter. Nymphs are made for whitefish. They're aggressive and once you find a pocket of fish, you usually end up catching more than one. They're a good fish to practice nymphs fishing on, and a fun fish to catch," notes Milburn.
There are some good fly fishing opportunities for the anglers looking to get out in the cooler air . . . and they're not any further away than the Provo.