My wife and I, along with our 2 dogs, were on a day trip to enjoy the fall colors and I took along an old Fenwick fly rod and some waders. I also took a garden kneeling bench because my legs are not what they used to be, and the St. Joe is a freestone river. That means it's loaded with slick round rocks and the footing is tough at best. We pulled into a place with easy access and I began to set up. I was using a 7 1/2 foot 5 weight fiberglass rod with a WF6F line, a furled leader and a 5X tippet. I chose to use a size 14 (I think) upright quill wing Royal Coachman as the fly de'jour. I was only in about 6" of water and I was sitting on my kneeling bench (turned upside down) and casting to a deep pool directly below a gentle riffle. I would cast my fly to the low end of the riffle and drifted it dragless over the pool. On 9 out of 10 of my presentations, I would get a rise, a take, or a refusal. I saw fish that many times come up to my fly. The water was so cold that day in October that I could only stand to be in it for 45 minutes, but I bet I caught well over a dozen fish. It was probably my shortest day fishing and my best day ever. My wife was at the camera and caught a couple of pictures of my fish. She also happened to catch one of my best ever casts with a fiberglass rod. I will absolutely give this fishery a rating of 5. I'd go even higher if I could. My best memory fishing was made on this day.

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