Well I’ve slacked off a bit and not posted for over a month, but I have been fishing and it has been awesome. Spring run-off has been in full force for 2 or 3 weeks now and is later and stranger than most years, due to the huge amount of snow and cooler temperatures we have enjoyed this year. A couple of weeks ago I felt like I had Provo canyon to myself, which I am assuming was due to the cooler temps and some rain (gets rid of the tubers) and the spring run-off (gets rid of the anglers). The day didn’t start out as planned when I fell in the river and got water in my waders almost immediately after arrival, but I proved once again that it’s impossible to stay in a bad mood when you’re catching fish. Don’t let anyone ever tell you the river is unfishable during run-off; you just need to look for fish in different places. In this case, I kept plucking them out right up against the bank in the most unlikely spots. The best thing is that you have access to some beasts that normally would be hanging out at the bottom of a deep hole out of reach. Here is an example of one such beast. I’m pretty sure he could have eaten my reel.More recently, I hit the bunny farm section of the Middle Provo near Heber. Unlike a couple of weeks ago, it was sunny and crowded, but it was such a beautiful day that I didn’t even notice the crowds.As on most crowded days, I covered quite a bit of ground in my quest to hike past everyone and was rewarded with some nice fish and even a rare Provo River encounter with my old archnemesis the moose. Believe it or not, in all my years of fishing everywhere on the Mighty Provo, I’ve never run into a moose and always wondered why, since there is an abundance of seemingly perfect moose terrain. I concluded that it must be the crowds, cars, etc. that keep them away. Apparently, however, they are around, and for once in my life I actually spotted a moose from a safe distance and managed to avoid a traumatic near-death experience like most of my previous encounters in Montana. In case you are wondering though, if a moose stops what it is doing (usually eating) and stares at you intently, that means it is time to stop and go back from whence you came, as I did in the example below. Can you spot a bull moose looking at me in this picture? This particular scene would be much scarier in October of course.It was another great day on the river, and I was able to reflect on the more important things in life while I was out there, which is actually more important than catching fish. From a purely objective standpoint, there may be some superior fly-fishing rivers out there, but for me the Provo River is like an old friend. No matter how long I’ve been away, it always feels like home when I get there, and for that I’m grateful.