CarlF

Have you had any issues with the wires bending on the SK heads? They look a bit flimsier than the Mustads. Last year, I discovered swing jigs, but ran into the problem of hooks being too big, especially when I wanted to run more compact presentations.

Do you guys have any good mouse or frog patterns? Im gonna throw some flies for bass this year.

Most challenging aspect (for me) is finding good bass water. Most exciting aspect is the fact that long hours of boredom and persistence can be immediately turned into an adrenaline rush...

My angling situation, and gear requirements are probably very similar to yours. Out here, I run a, 8'6" 3wt, 9' 5wt, and 9' 7wt. I fish small spring creeks and tributaries here with my 3wt. I use a rio light touch trout line. This setup handles everything from small nymph rigs to tiny midge emergers. If you want to cover all of your bases, you can buy a spare reel and spool it with 4wt line. You can underline your 5 weight if you want to lay out dry flies or just want a softer presentation. Ive never used 2wt line, and I fish VERY Small water with my 3wt effectively. Overall, I feel that the 3-5-7 weight system covers almost all your bases for fly fishing. If 250 is your budget, check out: St Croix avid/imperial Allen fly fishing (great rods, I have several of their reels and they always have sales on their site) Redington/TFO

This is a cool thread. I cant help but fish different techniques for different fish, theres so much enjoyment to be had. I love fly fishing for trout: you can throw tiny emergers with a 3 weight in a small stream, or nymph a hole in a local river with your 5 weight. You can take your 7 weight out and sling some real beefy flies and turn a few heads and maybe catch a nice one. Bass fishing is also diverse: dropshotting for smallies, grinding cranks in search pattern, walking a spook, or throwing a jig under a dock for largemouth. I love ice fishing, and catching crappies, perch , and trout. This year I was very fortunate to enjoy three big trips with good friends/relatives. My bass fishing buddy and I got to go fish Clear Lake for largemouth for the first time. My Fly fishing buddy and I went up to Yellowstone National Park and caught a ton of nice trout on the fly at the Madison river. And Third, my father in law took me to Canada, where we camped on an island and trolled for walleye and pike for a week. I love this sport, and while I respect anyone who dedicates themselves to pursuing one thing, I cant help myself from constantly learning and enjoying this sport to the fullest.

Oh yeah Baby. Ice fishing time is so close here. Only a few more weeks of cool weather and Ill be pulling some crappie in.

+1. I get harassed by my buddy about rusty hooks once in a while. I have replacements, but as long as they hold a nice point after filing, I just hang on to them

I have my jigs organized in separate boxes based on swim/pitch/football. Theyre also organized by weight in each box, and the bos is labeled with a sharpie. I only get out 3-4 times a month, so this helps me keep track of what everything is when I need it. I keep my swim jig heads in my terminal box, but this year I used them more than all of my weedgaurd jigs, simply because we don't have much cover here once the reservoirs are drawn down mid summer. Ill post pics when I get home.

How do you like Oklahoma for bass fishing? I have been considering applying for a job down in OKC, but don't know much about that area in general. Im sure the bass fishing is better than Utah, but what other kinds of fishing is there down there?

Im not sure what your water is like, but do you have a set of waders? I fly fish the rivers mostly now, but when I was fishing rivers with spinning gear I lost a ton of tackle. After I picked up a set of waders, I was able to wade out and dislodge/retrieve my stuck lures. If you look around for a used pair, you can usually score a good deal. My waders saved me quite a bit of money when I stopped losing rapalas...

Being in a trout state, the few bass lakes I have access to aren't exactly what you'd consider blue ribbon fisheries. That being said, I found that the best way to get the most out of what Utah has to offer wasto take up fly fishing for trout. Any of you guys fly fish on here? I eventually want to start fly fishing for bass, if I can ever convince myself to put my conventional tackle away for a trip...

I dabbled with quite a few different offerings, especially the low end models of shimano, fenwick, and wright and mcgill. I really like my fenwick spinning rods, specifically the elite tech smallmouth rods (which are no longer made). St. Croix was my first venture into mid level rods.. I have a couple St. Croix fly rods that I LOVE. Their rods are high quality, and I can personally vouch for their warranty process, but they're generally not well balanced. My fishing buddy got into Dobyns rods, and after trying his I got a couple of my own. Im currently trying to shift most of my bass setups to Dobyns. I wish I could try a few Loomis models, but that's an expensive game to play, and Im really impressed with Dobyns rods so far.

I liked your fly rod build on here. Looking forward to seeing what you build on these blanks

Im always looking for new bassing buddies. I messaged you and left my contact info.

Fish it early in the year. Every lake in Utah gets a ton of fishing pressure, and once school is out, that place turns into a zoo with all of the pleasure boat traffic. The state is focused on the Tiger Muskie fishing primarily, so I wouldn't fish with any high end tackle in there. Over the years, I have seen good smallmouth and largemouth come out of pineview, but Ive never had or seen any high number days.

If you want to drive, I can say from experience that sand hollow is well worth the trip. This year I plan on focusing on a few central Utah lakes, like pelican, jordanelle, and Utah lake itself.

My father in law winters in Apache Junction. The chain of lakes just north of him are loaded with largemouth. The Arizona fish and game site also has a ton of information on reservoirs around the phoenix area.

I have a couple sitting in my box. They never saw water all year... I should take the time to learn this but I don't get out much, and when I do I have a few other techniques im focusing on that I feel will definitely catch fish.

I cant wait for ice off. rods: more Dobyns!! this year I got my first Dobyns (2 DX rods) and now I need MOOORREE Techniques: Frogging, swing jig, and lipless cranking This year I will hopefully get a chance to spend more time with these three techiniques. I don't necessarily care about catching a trophy this year, but my usual fishing partner has been starting to lean towards fishing swimbaits more often.

Welcome to the forum. Im originally from New York, but the upstate area. You must have a tough time finding places to fish in NYC!

thanks. Im on a few other forums on the same name. My friend is active on this site and recommended it highly. I like it so far, it seems like a good group

Hey folks. Just want to introduce myself. My name is Carl, and I've enjoyed this site for quite a while now. I recently decided to create an account so I can enjoy the benefits of the forum! I live in Northern Utah and love to bass fish. From southern Utah to southern Idaho, there a few nice places to fish here. Nice to meet you all, hopefully I can make a few fishing buddies around here.