The Provo River Guide Service is excited to have had its first multi-trip day yesterday. The first fly fishing trip on Monday, February 18, was with my long time client, Darin. For the first time, he was bringing his 20-year-old daughter, Hannah. I can't say I wasn't concerned with how she would handle the below freezing temperatures. Well, she proved me wrong!
With such beautiful weather over the holiday weekend, I found it to bring a significant amount of fly fishing traffic to rivers in Utah. After fishing the lower Provo River for an hour, and struggling to be able to set up in good water, I decided to change gears. We packed up and headed to the middle section of the Provo. As we crossed the bridge on River Road I noticed “dead raccoon” hole was open. Which is a perfect place for a father and daughter to fish simultaneously. Despite the fish rising, Darin and I decided it was best to start Hannah with a light nymph rig. Within five minutes Hannah was hooked up! We went on to have non-stop action for next 2 hours.
Unfortunately, we had more fish on the line than what we brought to the net. As guides we tend to put pressure on ourselves to bring in numbers. This trip was a reminder that the experience is as important. Yesterday the number of fish landed was not nearly as significant as a father sharing his love for fly fishing with his daughter. My hope is that after a fun morning of fishing, Darin has reeled in a fly fishing partner for life. -Jeff Harwin
Hannah hooked up, Dead raccoon hole, middle Provo River