THE UTAH RIG
Also known as the Provo Rig, Provo River Bounce Rig, or a Bounce Rig, this is a very popular rig used by fly guides in Utah and many other places. Many of these guides simply refer to this rig as the “The Utah Rig”. One such guide is Larry Tullis. Larry has been guiding for over 22 years in Utah, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, NY/PA, Alaska and Chile and has authored over 6 books. Needless to say, we were delighted to work with Larry in testing out the T100 and then developing the TN Provo with his input. Both rods work great, with the T100 providing greater reach, while the TN Provo has more backbone for bigger fish and setting hooks in deeper water.
DESIGNED FOR NYMPHING
The Utah Rig was engineered to drift Nymphs naturally off the river bottom with the use of small split shot. The split shots are attached to the end of the line and are designed to “lightly bounce” off the bottom, while the nymphs (unweighted) are attached to the line using tags and drift naturally. This rig works very well with longer rods for drifts in medium to large rivers. The longer rods are ideal to reach over currents and fish runs and pocket water that are more challenging to fish with standard fly rods/lines due to line drag.
RIG SET UP
Length of line is approx. 17.5” for 18’ rod. Increase or decrease line as required.
TOP SECTION:
9.5 ft. of Varivas Airs Shooting Line, 24 lb.
BOBBER:
Thingamabobber 3/4” size or other indicator.
INDICATOR:
1 ft. of 4X of Umpqua (or other) indicator tippet.
LEADER:
7 ft. of 5X - 4X flourocarbon tippet.
FLIES:
Attach unweighted nymphs off 4-5” droppers 1 ft. apart. Add 3 small split shots to end of line, 1 ft. from bottom fly.
USAGE TIPS
Adjust split shot weight to water depth and power so it taps the stream bottom (not constantly hanging up). Some states don't allow weight below the fly so just substitute the split shot for appropriately weighted Euro nymphs/jigs and be aware of how many flies are legal in your waters.
Don’t use weighted flies.
Limit nymph hook size to #8 and smaller to insure better hookups and less damage to the fish.
High stick the rod ahead (downstream) of the indicator / sighter slightly but leave some slack line so as not to pull the rig unnaturally. We are trying for natural drift where the indicator / sighter goes slower than the surface, showing the flies are in the strike zone near the bottom.
Set the hook quickly parallel to the river and with the current (downstream) for best hook setting, not straight up like some other techniques or rigs.
REGULATIONS
As noted above, some states do not allow weight to be placed below flies. California is one such state that does not allow this. Please check your local regulations. One solution is to use a heavily weighted nymph to replace the split shots.