Lower Provo River
Today’s report
Lower Provo River is fishing well today. Flows are running 77.3 cfs and steady. NOAA’s forecast has it dropping to about 69 cfs by Saturday, so the next couple of mornings are the ones to fish before it thins out. This Afternoon's forecast: sunny, 68°F.
- flows are steady
- calm, fishable weather
- Forecast: falling to ~69 cfs by Sat (NOAA / Colorado Basin RFC)
Fishing Lower Provo River: what to know
The Lower Provo is the stretch from Deer Creek Dam down Provo Canyon to Utah Lake — a tailwater in the canyon with browns and rainbows, then a warmer, slower river through Provo. The canyon water along US-189, from the dam past Vivian Park and Bridal Veil Falls to Nunns Park, is the fishing: pull-offs, the Provo River Parkway trail, and pocket water and riffles you can wade. It's twenty minutes from Provo and Orem, so weekends are busy.
Dam-controlled flows keep it clear through spring runoff and fishable all winter on midges. Spring and fall are the best months — BWOs in the spring, browns feeding before the fall spawn — and summer is caddis and terrestrials with the trail crowds. Irrigation releases raise the river in summer; it wades best in the shoulder seasons.
Small nymphs (sowbugs, pheasant tails, zebra midges) under an indicator through the deeper runs; caddis dries in the evening; small streamers in the pockets. Part of the canyon is under special regulations with a reduced limit and flies-and-lures rules — the section below lists them. The mountain whitefish here are big and plentiful and take a small nymph fished deep.
Current conditions · updated 1h ago
Falling all week. About 69 cfs by Saturday. Forecasts change; this updates every 6 hours.
Forecast: NOAA / Colorado Basin River Forecast Center, issued Oct 17, 10:54 AMFlow as of Oct 17, 3:45 PM MT · USGS 10163000
Best time to fish Lower Provo River
Flows typically peak in March (about 236 cfs median) and settle to their lowest in August (about 18 cfs) — the wadeable, clear-water window usually opens once flows drop below the seasonal median, and the 72-hour chart above shows where today sits against it.
Species
Location
Nearby waters (within ~25 mi):
Guides & shops for this water
From our independent directory — no booking relationship.
Regulations
From Center Street Bridge (entrance to Utah Lake State Park) upstream to I-15 (Utah County)
- All suckers must be immediately released.
- CLOSED to the possession of walleye from March 1 through 6 a.m. on the first Saturday of May.
- No limit on northern pike. Anglers must not release any northern pike they catch. All northern pike must be immediately killed.
- CLOSED to nighttime bowfishing (sunset to sunrise) from the first Saturday of May through 6 a.m. on the second Saturday of July.
From Olmstead Diversion Dam upstream to Deer Creek Dam (Utah and Wasatch counties)
- Limit 2 trout under 15 inches.
- Artificial flies and lures only.
Special rules from the 2026 Utah Fishing Guidebook. Statewide daily limits apply to anything not listed. Rules change — always verify in the current guidebook before you fish.