Two weeks ago, I fished Provo Canyon in the midst of a blizzard, but that seemed like a distant memory yesterday as I enjoyed a healthy dose of sunshine, blue skies, and temps in the upper 40s all afternoon. Although water levels are still very low, the fish appeared to me to be moving around a little more already. I observed, or scared, quite a few fish in shallow areas as compared to even a couple of weeks ago.

There was little to no surface action when I arrived at the river around 1:30, with the exception of a few certain areas that seem to always have fish rising. This was a stark contrast to the month of February, but it won’t be long before spring blue wing olives arrive to heat things up. I covered quite a bit of ground while fishing sub surface on a sow bug until around 5:30, when I contemplated heading back to the car so I could go get a J Dawg, which I had been looking forward to all day. Who drives all the way to Provo without going to J Dawgs while you’re there? It was at this moment of deep thought, that fish suddenly started rising to some very large midges, so I hurried and switched over and was able to hook a couple of nice sized browns before it suddenly stopped just as quickly as it had begun. Literally it lasted about 3 or 4 minutes. The fish below was sipping on some of these Godzilla midges when I hooked him.

Adaptability is important on the mighty Provo. I learned many years ago to take what the river gives me, as opposed to trying to impose my own will against mother nature. It actually cracks me up to think back to the days of stringing up a fly at the car before even getting to the water to see what is happening, and then being frustrated when the fly that worked so great a week ago wasn’t working all of a sudden. These days I pretty much approach life the same way I approach the river. Prepare as best you can, be adaptable and ready to learn, and be grateful to be there at all. Also, I did end up getting a J Dawg, and it was delicious as always. Since this isn’t Facebook, I will spare you a photo of the actual J Dawg itself.