Best month to fish the Provo River

Month-by-month fishing quality

Why these months?

Two things decide your odds on the Provo River: flow and season. You need the river in its fishable-flow band — so a freestone in spring runoff is out no matter how good the hatch would be, while a dam-fed tailwater holds shape year-round. On top of that, the hatches and water temperatures line up best in September and October and March and November, which is why those months edge out the rest. The Provo River's season runs year-round jordanelle dam tailwater; prime fall (sept–oct) and winter midge fishing, june spring-runoff pass-through is the rough patch.

The Middle Provo between Jordanelle Dam and Deer Creek Reservoir is one of the most consistently productive tailwaters in the Mountain West, holding an estimated 3,000+ wild brown and rainbow trout per mile in a compact, wadeable stretch a half hour from Salt Lake City. Cold, clear, dam-buffered flows keep it fishing nearly year-round, including a genuinely good winter midge season most Rocky Mountain tailwaters can't match at this elevation.

Where to fish the Provo River

The stretch through Charleston and Woodland along US-189 gives the easiest roadside wade access; the river braids through several channels, so smaller, technical water rewards precise short casts over distance. June's runoff pass-through is the one month to expect off-color, pushy water — plan around it rather than fight it.

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