I had the chance to fish the Spanish Fork creek, south of the Thistle mudslide. The fishing was really good for 8-12 inch browns. I caught 20+ fish in a couple of hours. The stream is fairly small, and is pretty brushy, but I used my ultralight tackle and a small rooster tail with a gold blade and I managed the creek just fine. I'm not much of a fly fisherman, but there was a nice hatch of small flies going on just after the sun went behind the mountain.
I also looked at the Diamond Fork River, it looked really nice, but it was almost dark, so I didn't get to do any fishing. Have any of you had the chance to fish there?
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diamond fork is a great fishery with some fairly large browns in it. i read a article put out by the dwr saying it has the highest fish count or bio pounds i think they referred to, something like that. per mile. so it has the most fish in it per mile per water volume in the state. if i remember correctly it is still closed. can anyone expand on that? i think its for road work and river restoration, which i have strong feelings against but, i think that was it.
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The river isn't closed to fishing. If you can access it you can fish it. The construction blocks a lot of the access I think. It's a 3 year project. They are building a pipeline that will pump water out of Strawberry Reservoir back here to South Utah County. I believe it's for more irrigation water. I just hope it doesn't do to Strawberry what happens at Willard! I've fished Diamond Fork once, but it was the second time I'd ever been fly fishing and I didn't catch anything. The rocks in that river are extremely slippery!! Whatever moss grows on them makes them much more slippery than say, the Provo. Got to be careful wading. My friend just about filled up his waders when he slipped down into a deep hole!
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I haven't been there this year but I heard or read somewhere it is open now . The construction up there is they were tunneling and hit a gas pocket in the rocks that set them back . I was thinking about going up there this fall . I caught some nice fish up there . Give it a couple weeks and the flows from Sixth water should slow down . Summer time it has high flows . I got some secret spots up there I haven't hit in a few years . Lots of stoneflies in that water . Great in the spring for some fast fishing .
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Maybe it isn't much of a problem this time of year but a few years ago a friend of mine fished the Spanish Fork river around thistle and while he was there he scared up a couple of rattle snakes. Please be careful.
m
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Now you're talking my home stompin grounds. I grew up in what used to be the mouth of the canyon. Right up by the Junior High and East Field. Spanish Fork River (stream) used to carry some nice Browns. We would catch them right down by the fair grounds in the fall averaging around 4lbs. I saw some pushing 9-10, but never had the luck of catching one myself. I fished that river all the way to the summit and Diamond Fork all the way up past White River. Of course, as a kid it was kept a simple as possible. Mepps on light line cast upstream and retrieved as quickly as possible. Diamond Fork is pretty good until you get above the area of Monks Hollow, then the fish thin out and get smaller. The lower campground has a lot a easy access holes. I haven't fished it in a while, but my best friends little brother still does, and he gives me reports when we go to the Gorge together. He says that he is doing very well on a fly rod. I know from watching him that he is about as experienced with a fly rod as I am, NOT VERY. Someone that knows what they are doing should be able to do very well up there. Hope it helps.
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