Fished the St. Joe yesterday with a good friend of mine and I must say that I had the best day of fishing this year. I probably encountered more fish per mile then any river I have fished in recent memory. Quite the entertaining day. The fish were a nice mix of average 10-12 inchers with a fair number of 14-16 inchers thrown in and we both had several shots at fish in the 18-20 inch range. The fish were rising to Pale Morning Duns and Stimulators. A drag free drift was imperative and I had at least two large fish turn away at the last second due to the fly developing a slight drag. What made this a bit more difficult is many of the fish would not come up within the first 2 or 3 seconds of the drift. They weren't coming up until about the count of 4 or 5. With the multiple current seams and an upriver wind, this made for some challenging fishing. However, if you got it all correct, the fish were more then willing to come right up. If you any of you are looking for an alternative to the Montana rivers, I would head to the St. Joe. The water is in great shape. Mike Spangle, WA
