Top 20 Places to Fly Fish in the Rockies Before You Die

The title above caught my attention due to its similarity to a great book I was given by a friend titled "Fifty Places to Fly Fish Before You Die." Of course the book includes Utah's Green River as one of the world's 50 must-go fly fishing destinations.

My interest in the list of the top 20 places to fly fish in the Rockies grew as I realized it's from Jack Dennis. Jack is a legend of fly fishing. His fly shop on Broadway in Jackson, Wyoming, catering to the Snake River and the rivers of Yellowstone National Park, is always a stop whenever I'm in Jackson Hole. It was in Jack's shop that I first learned of the annual fund raiser Jackson Hole One Fly team event (team competition where fly fishers use literally one fly each day of the tournament).

Jack's list includes the Provo River at #10. The Green River is notably absent from the list. However, Jack proves the "Utah" Green has a spot on everyone's list with this comparison reference while describing the "Wyoming" Green River (#13):

"many venture to fish the Green River, but most head to the Utah Green River. However, the Green River near Kemmerer is equally fantastic fly fishing as the Utah Green."

Sounds like a few more locations to add to my wish list.

What a Difference a Month Makes

An earlier post reflected on the great spring Blue Wing Olive hatch on the Provo River. One of things that contributes to this is that river flows are low. When the spring runoff begins in earnest the heavy flows begin filling Jordanelle and Deer Creek reservoirs and are released down the Provo River. May is typically a very high river flow month.

The chart below graphs the amount of water flowing through the Provo River in cubic feet per second (cfs). This chart is from a CUWCD website and shows (right to left) the flows increasing substantially around the first of May and beginning to reduce again at the end of May (the river is running at approximately 600 cfs today).



My last trip to fish the BWO hatch was around April 10th. Flows on that date were only 1/3 of what is flowing today (less than than 200 cfs). That outing we were present for one of the most prolific hatches in recent memory. The fish were actively rising and we presented several versions of BWO flies. No success. We then realized there was also an active midge hatch. We changed to one of my top 10 favorite flies - the Griffith's Gnat - and that made all the difference.

Here are a couple of pictures from that trip:

A shot of "Brad's Hole"

A beautiful Provo River brown trout

A river runs through me...

A River Runs Through...Our Backyard (For Now)

The Murdock Canal (officially the Provo Reservoir Canal) flows behind our back yard. When we built our home we were initially concerned about safety issues. 22 years later we have come to consider the canal our own private river running through our backyard.

When spring runoff increases the flows in the Provo River the 22-mile canal begins to fill diverting Provo River water to farmers in northern Utah County and Salt Lake County (and in recent years municipal water in Salt Lake County).



The side benefit is we enjoy it all summer. Ducks live in the canal, people walk, run and bike along this stream, and we even hear the occasional "splash" as a dog walker unleashes a favorite pet for a dip. Sunday evenings often close with a leisurely stroll along the canal (Sydney and I especially like those).

My favorite part may be the beautiful sunsets we enjoy from our backyard and inside our home. We were working in the backyard tonight when I realized we had a beautiful sunset in the making on the "river." I raced in the house for the camera to capture the shot below.



Unfortunately for us, sunsets like the one above will be gone by the end of 2012.

The canal was built nearly 100 years ago and is currently owned by the Provo River Water Users Association. Water is the great currency of the West and the Provo River has many mouths to feed (water). Concerned about how to best utilize the limited Provo River water in a growing county, government, citizen and environmental groups recently agreed to enclose the canal in a project known as the Provo River Canal Enclosure Project. The enclosure will improve public safety, improve water quality, improve efficiencies in the operation and maintenance of the canal corridor and save seepage and evaporation losses. It was the water conservation aspect of the enclosure that won the support of Trout Unlimited and the Utah Rivers Council.

I attended the public hearings, which were well done. Though I'm disappointed about losing our backyard river, I support the conservation aspects of the enclosure.

The silver lining of the enclosure project is that once the canal is enclosed the surface will have improved walking, running, cycling, and equestrian paths. The improvements will include aesthetically pleasing landscaping that looked great from the drawings presented at the hearings.

Enjoy the sunsets while they last!