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Went fishing on the lower provo today. I mean waaaaay lower provo river. Almost could be called upper jordan because of how "lower" it was. I was hoping for some bass (white or largemouth), walleye, catfish, crappie, maybe bluegill or perch, Anything but trout. I've been fishing for nothing but trout for most of the year. I was fishing a 3" black shad Gulp minnow on a 1/8 oz jighead since 1/16 was a little too light for the wind. I caught probably 8 brown trout between 6 and 17 inches. Not bad, but I wasn't looking for trout.
I saw a couple of white bass and one sunfish of some sort. Yesterday at lunch I was "scouting" the same area and saw tons of fish. Most of them relatively small, but I saw a couple of walleye and largemouth bass. I also saw two that I don't see very often. A June Sucker that I was able to make out really clearly and a northern pike. The pike was about 14" long but I spooked it trying to get a better look at it. It was definitely a northern though. I know that they're persona-non-grata in the Utah lake drainage and I'd have been glad to take care of that one if not for my clumsiness.
I think the cold front today put most of the warm water fish down and didn't affect the trout as much. I guess some fish is better than no fish.
Matt
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Thanks for the report. I spent a few hours on the low lower provo last year when I was working down and couldn't pull a dang thing out. If you aren't interested in the browns, you are welcome to leave them in there for me.
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[cool][#0000FF]In the years before all of the development along the lower Provo River, I spent a lot of time tromping the banks and dangling the depths. Seems there was something available almost any time of year. I think I have caught over a dozen species all told...but never a northern. I suspect there will be some caught out of that flow soon...if they haven't already been caught there and not reported. Not a good thing for the Junies.
I have hooked some BIG browns in the last stretch of the Provo between the Center Street Bridge and the lake...especially during the winter months.
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[#0000FF]When I was going to BYU back in the early sixties I sometimes worked the night shift at a service station just north of the State Street Bridge. I often brought my tackle to work so that I could make a few casts in the early morning on my way home. Saw some huge fish in there but didn't hook any larger than about 4#. And I also fished the low dam to the west. Caught some decent fish there too. Don't know if that is still there.
Surprising that there aren't more white bass up in the river this year. DWR folks working on capturing June suckers reported seeing almost no whities in their capture nets...compared to thousands at the same time in previous years.
One of my fondest memories of the lower Provo was during the channel cat run up the river in late May through early June. One of the last holes just below the first riffle was full of cats waiting to go upstream to find suitable spawning holes. I caught them (and walleyes) on nightcrawlers. When I filleted the cats I found them full of salmon fly larvae...back in the days when there were still those critters in the river. I brought down my six weight fly rod, and some big ugly nymphs and had a ball playing with those bug munchin' kitties. AND...I also hooked a few nice browns and big ol' escapee rainbow that probably weighed over 5 pounds.
Yeppers. Lots of fond memories of that stretch of river.
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I was at American Fork boat harbor fishing on the outside towards the river flow and saw half of a good size northern on the rocks, not sure what took a bite out of it animal? human? or other fish, but I was suprised to see it there. I've cauight a rainbow trout that was only about 6 inches long and a perch but never have caught a northern there before.
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I'll bring this out for show and tell.. Here is a 29 inch pike out of the Jordan this year.
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I really enjoy fishing that section of river on my lunch breaks. I'm a witness to the Northerns that hang out there. Last October I pulled out a pretty nice sized one. I enjoy fishing down there because of the variety.
Attached is a pic of a Northern I pulled out down by Lincoln Beach a few weeks ago. Also, I saw a kid with a few Mountain Whitefish on his stringer down there. Ever caught any of those on that low section of the Provo?
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I know that there are whitefish in the provo through town, so it doesn't surprise me. I haven't caught one yet, but it's on my list of utah-fish-I-ain't-caught-yet.
So's pike, but hopefully I'll be able to get them both off soon.
ETA:
Pat, that dam is still there just west of state street. There are some good fish in there that I've seen, but I haven't actually fished there. There's something about that spot that attracts kids throwing rocks or dogs wanting to swim every time I get there. I did sit and watch a good sized trout chasing what looked like sculpin a couple of years ago, but I didn't have any fishing gear with me. I don't make that mistake often. I have caught fish in the stretch immediately below the dam. There's a little storm discharge about 200 yards downstream that empties into the river and last spring carp were stacked up there like cordwood.
Matt
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