Having said that, I had an long-standing promise with my good friend Art from 2010. Back then, he helped me through a dark time of divorce and debt and death in immeasurable ways. It's hard to know how to properly pay someone like this back. But I've definitely wanted to thank him properly and had been racking my brain as to the best way to do so. Words just seem so trite; "thank you so much for your help" only goes so far as a phrase and it doesn't carry nearly enough weight. So it occurred to me one day that I thought I'd give him a true gift of myself at last. I thought I would share with him my #1 summer time passion by teaching it to him myself.
Fly fishing. Specifically dry-fly fishing, assuming the fish would be willing participants and look up.
I had been promising to take him and teach him fly fishing each summer for the past 5. But it never worked out with our schedules and I was starting to feel like the aforementioned buffoon for not doing what I said I was going to do. Now that my work schedule allows me to have every other Friday off, it only made sense to finally cash in on this long-standing promise. And with my honey-do list whittled down a bit, today was the day it all made sense to do so.
The conditions were pretty much as perfect as one could ask for. Weather was still and clear, with bearable temps. Water color was crystal clear and unaffected by the recent showers. Crowds encroached a bit, but all people remained friendly. And the flies? Well, I'll let Western River Fly Fisher (https://www.westernriversflyfishing.com/north_eastern_utah_report) sum it up for you in it's trusted weekly report.
"The Provo continues to fish well, and better now that it's cooled off. Both sections are fishing well, but for now you won't find the same assortment of bugs on both. If you're hoping to hit the Middle Provo River's Green Drake hatch, this weather will provide your best and last opportunity. There are still a few around and the rivers trout are keying on them. Even if you don't see many on the water fishing an adult or emerging Drake pattern will produce some nice fish, especially on the upper half of this section of the Provo. You'll also see good PMD hatches when there are Drakes out. So be prepared for both. At the moment and moving forward PMD's will be more consistent and producing very good fishing on both sections of the Provo River. After the Drakes are gone this small yellowish mayfly will provide another month of good fishing on the Lower and Middle Provo. Personally it's my favorite mayfly. Look for their mating swarms to be hovering over the rivers banks early in the morning and once they hit the water shortly there after expect these dying mayflies to generate the mornings first rise. They will again to be a factor as the sun goes down. Nymph patterns that imitate this mayfly will produce from morning to late in the afternoon. If you're out on the water at the bookends of the day, look for the rivers prolific caddis hatches to now mix with the PMD spinners."
So, I was pumped to see the 3 major Provo River bugs on the water all at one time: the tail end of the caddis, and the beginning of both the PMD, and the coveted Green Drake hatch. After some brief introduction to the basics of Observation and Presentation and Casting, Art was ready to go. He was a natural. Fish were on his flies within 10 minutes and never really stopped after that. Setting the hook was tough, and we left a lot of barbed metal in fishes lips today. I actually ran out of PMDs in my box. But just then I noticed the big clumsy green drakes hovering around. So I happily switched us over to those flies, which are much easier to cast and see on the water. We ended up with 5 in the net between the two of us and many more missed fish.
The willing fish, 3 strong hatches, ideal weather, and great company with a fulfilled promise made for a perfect fishing memory for me.
As for Art, I think he is hooked...
