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[#0000FF]Nothing unusual. Browns on the Provo have been afflicted with [url "https://wildlife.utah.gov/fes/fungused_brown_trout.php"]SPAWNING SYNDROME[/url] (link) for decades. I observed it on my first fall fishing trips to the Provo below Deer Creek back in the early 1960s. And it seems to happen just about every year on not only the Provo but a few other streams as well.
Nasty looking stuff.
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As beginner fly fishermen, my buddy and I were quite concerned. We have only fished the spawn this year and took extra precautions to make sure we didn't have a negative impact on the spawning trout. But we saw those fish and thought something terrible must have happened. However I was sure I wasn't the first to see this fungus.
Thanks Tubedude, you always have the answers.
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[#0000FF]Every year there are anglers who see those fuzzy brown trout for the first time...and run up and down the bank in their waders crying "The sky is falling". I was one of them. But after finding that it was a natural thing that eliminated some of the larger, older and weaker fish...but not all...I found it easier to accept.
We all need to be careful not to damage the spawning redds, but it is still possible to catch some large healthy fish with the right approach.
My "heart-jolt" on this subject happened about my second year at BYU...on the Provo where it ran through the (then undeveloped) outside edge of town. All summer I had been working to try to fool a big old brown I could see holding under some exposed roots next to the bank. I tried everything from streamers to nightcrawlers. Never so much as a fin wiggle or a sniff.
Then, one November day, after an early snowstorm, I hiked down to that spot thinking I might have a shot. But, instead of holding in his fave hidey hole under the roots, my big brown was laying on his side in shallow water on my side of the river...his gills still feebly working as life ebbed from him. What made the lingering mental image more horrible was that he was mostly covered with that white fungus. An ignominious end to a noble beast.
Thankfully, that was not my first encounter with the "Provo Crud". I had been catching the occasional infected brown for about a month by that time. And I had a discussion on the subject of the white stuff with a DWR officer who came down to check my license on a previous trip. So, even though I didn't like it, I was more understanding.
Still, that big old snooty brown lives on in my memories...mostly as a healthy fish before succumbing to the scum. It would have been great to hook him at least once, but then the memories would not be as bitter-sweet.
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That is honestly heartbreaking. Hunting a big fish like that for so long and seeing him sick before getting him on the line. I'm just glad it wasn't really out of the ordinary. Sure had us concerned.
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I may be wrong, but while fishing rivers full off stunted browns like the Middle Provo should you really care about disrupting a few redds? I’ve heard that purposely tromping a few would be helpful.
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I misread this, I thought it said sick of fishing the middle Provo, I hit that point years ago, stunted fish, and overrun with Orvis dorks.
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Some mortality is good. I don't know about stomping redds. But after some different conversations with different folks who know more than I, I may even keep a couple fish to help reduce competition when I go to the midpro.
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Luckily I'm still a newbie so I won't get sick of the Middle for at least 2-3 more outings haha
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Keep ‘em? What to plant with your corn? You would have to be part goat to eat those river browns![bobhappy]
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I haven't ever kept a fish out of a river. I usually only keep rainbows anyway. Are they that bad?! Haha
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Probably not that bad. I’m just partial to alpine lake scud-fed brook trout with bright red meat. I’ve been spoiled.
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Judging by the screen name I should have guessed that haha the only trout I have tried that I didn't like was tiger trout. Browns, rainbows, cutthroat, and brooks all taste good to me. However I haven't kept river fish to eat, always out of a body of water.
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[quote brookieguy1]I may be wrong, but while fishing rivers full off stunted browns like the Middle Provo should you really care about disrupting a few redds? I’ve heard that purposely tromping a few would be helpful.[/quote]
Kind of understand your point of view on this. It is interesting that the state has been suggesting we keep some of the smaller fish to reduce the numbers but .......
Most fly fishermen have got into an C&R only mentality. I think we need to Outlaw Flyfishing on the Provo for 5 years. LOL
And I am an avid Fly Fisherman, but NOT AN ORVIS DORK. ROFLOL
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[quote brookieguy1]Probably not that bad. I’m just partial to alpine lake scud-fed brook trout with bright red meat. I’ve been spoiled.[/quote]
A good brookie has always been my favorite as well. But, while I prefer them to eat, I have seen them overpopulate in some Western Waters and out compete with those lazy Cutties.
I actually prefer a good Brown in the frypan over a bow, and cutts are on the bottom of my list of slimers to eat.
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Ya, I think we have been our own worst enemy on that river when it comes to C&R, I am as guilty as anyone because I don't keep fish but I know it would help to pull a lot of those fish out of that river and let the others get bigger.
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I really enjoyed "Orvis Dork" as well. I'm definitely letting that one fly at some buddies sometime soon
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