1. Troutnut Forum
›
2. Fly Fishing
›
3. Moving to Utah - general questions

Greetings all! I am moving to Logan Utah in a couple weeks from Kentucky. The house we are moving to is right on the Logan river - it's quite literally in our backyard. I have grown up fishing all my life for bass, crappie, bluegill and catfish. I love fishing, and based on my research, Logan is known for trout fishing. I've been trout fishing a handfull of times - always with a spinning rod and in Missouri. I have 2 fly rods which I plan on using (learning) and am excited to do so.

Any general tips? I am very inexperienced in trout fishing and am always concerned about the well being of the fish I catch in general. I may keep some but mostly want to practice catch and release. I know the handling of trout is very different from bass and do not wish to endanger any fish. I've hooked into trout accidentally before here in KY and due to my poor knowledge and light research it rarely ended well.

Another concern- and this won't be an immediate purchase- I am also concerned about the waders. I am 6'6" and have size 18 feet, and am unsure of which direction to pursue for waders. Very brief internet searches have gotten me nowhere. I have bogs in my size that I can get in the water about 12 inches before they become anchors, but any tips on this would be appreciated as well.

Thank you all in advance for you responses and patience with a noob!

*edited for grammar*

Bigfootry, congrats on the move! I have no experience with Utah fishing, I would suggest checking out some of the local flyshops, Im sure they can hook you up with some waders and boots. Check out Flyfishfood on the internet, these guys are great and I order lots of tying materials from them. Keep us updated on your adventures, Utah looks like such cool place.
Mike.

Thanks for the info Partsman! Flyfishfood looks just like the kind of info I am looking for. I'm excited for the move and the new adventure. We love camping and fishing and I'm sure there will be no shortage of it there.

Finding off the shelf waders for a size 18 might be impossible. I've heard of Simms waders and wading shoes up to size 15 but never any larger. You might have to have custom waders sewn for you and use very large basketball type sneakers wi8th felt soles glued on. I'll do some research and see if I can find anything for you.

I quickly found these boots. You could glue felt soles to the bottom. I would recommend buying either Barge cement or a tube of Flex-Seal. After gluing the felt to the boot sole I like to thoroughly wrap the felt to the boot using multiple wraps of Duct tape. I leave the tape on for 24 hours. These boots aren't cheap.

https://www.2bigfeet.com/collections/slip-resistant-footwear/products/carolina-domestic-6-inch-plain-toe?variant=38499847633

Try this link for oversize stocking foot Simms waders. Whatever the cost of the wader you will have to add $65 for the special bootie size. You can figure on around $500 - $600 for the wading shoes and the waders.

https://redsflyfishing.com/products/simms-custom-stockingfoot-option

For fish handling, use barbless hooks and try to keep the fish in the water as much as possible. Avoid playing them to exhaustion, and use forceps to get the hook out quickly. A net can help land the fish and hold it in the water as you get organized.

Simms offers waders that incorporate Muck boots, unfortunately their lsrgest boot is a 17. XLfeet offers boots your size and larger and I am sure they can do a custom job for you but they come at a high price, near $1K

Western Rivers Fly Fishing in SLC is a world class shop. Definitely swing by. It’s a drive but find an opportunity to float the green river. It was spectacular. There are also a ton of small streams in the Uintas with lots of trout. That’d be a great home base to explore a ton of trout water.