Winter Fly Fishing

[JohnnyTheHook]

Hey guys!

I am brand spankin new to fly fishing. I do quite a bit of ice fishing but my father sent me his old fly rod he used 30+ yrs ago. Its a 7wt fenwick. Feels like a nice little rod. I just bought a little reel for it as the reel he sent was 30+ yrs old too (pfleugar medalist).

What I was wondering was....are there some easy access areas that don't have a lot of trees or other junk that tend to catch your flies. I tried hitting up the Ogden River by the alaskan inn but I have to tell you I got so stinkin frustrated tying on new flys every few casts I ran out of flys. And on top of that never got a bite, but I do know now that I need to stock waaaaaay up on flys haha.

I've practiced in an open field, but was hopin to find some small spots anywhere from downtown ogden up to causey as well as the weber. I figure if I'm going to practice I may as well have a chance to catch more that a blade of grass or a dog turd.

Thank you in advance for any info on where a newbie can get out and maybe catch a fish or just not lose 25 bucks in flys in a few hours even.
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[kochanut]

weber river along I84, rest area exit before you get into peterson, enough room to back cast to the west bound lanes
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[flygoddess]

Wanna sell that Medalist Reel?[]
7 wt might be a little over kill, but a good way to get the feel for it. Understand, new rods are much lighter. Is it a glass rod?
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[JohnnyTheHook]

Thanks for the info...I'll have to give that a whirl!
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[JohnnyTheHook]

I lied, its a 6 wt. Fenwick HMG graphite 2pc 8 1/2 footer. I'll probably hold on to the reel just to have a spare....my dad sent me 4 extra spools he had with it too. He mentioned to load them with diff lines depending on what I plan on doing.
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[2fishon]

The single thing that helped me the most when I started fly fishing (2yrs ago) was learning how to roll cast. It will save you all kinds of flies as well as frustration.
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[flygoddess]

Second the roll casting. You won't loose flies and get wind knots:

http://www.midcurrent.com/video/clips/wu...cs_05.aspx

Oh, and the HMG means High Modulus Graphite which back in those days means slow and sweet!
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[cpierce]

The older Medialists were good reels. I still have one. It just won't die, and I don't know how to kill it! [laugh][laugh]

Practice your roll cast on water. A roll cast just doesn't work well on grass. It needs the adhesion of the water to load your rod properly. If you can, find an open pond to try it on first.

For the other casting ---- I whipped a lot of flies off when I was learning. Practice some with a piece of yarn, instead of a fly on your line, out in a field somewhere to get your timing down. It isn't strength, so easy does it, and let the line have a little time behind you so you don't "crack the whip". Think smoooth... []
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[Leaky33]

Third the roll casts. Mainly because that the rivers in Ut. aren't that wide and its just easier and more trouble free, especially on the back cast.
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[JohnnyTheHook]

Right on...I will definitely practice. With warmer weathers all this week I dunno how long I'll have ice to sit on!

Thank you all for the pointers! You Rock!
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