My Wet Flies 101 class won the weather lottery yesterday. Sadly, the price of the ticket was one of the worst bites I’ve seen all season on the Farmy. (I’m going with the cold front coming through the night before theory.) There was enough hatch activity (Isos and caddis) to keep our hopes up, and a few splashy risers here and there, but folks, it was tough sledding. The guys did a most excellent job of staying positive and refining their newly learned craft. Keep at it, gents, and you’ll have enough days that will make you chuckle when you think of yesterday. (Really.)
As an instructor, I find sessions where everyone blanks as frustrating as the students. So I fished the lower river on the way home. The run I targeted was located in a section that got annihilated by last summer’s drought. Yet, I took two beautiful wild browns in 30 minutes. The water was swift and snotty (not well-suited for a class) so maybe that was the difference.
Nature finds a way. This is the first fish. He clobbered the Squirrel and Ginger on the dead drift in a deep pocket. Love the way the wild ones hit and battle, and you just don’t get coloration like this at the factory.
currentseams.com 
Heading up to northern Michigan to swing some flies in a couple of weeks. Hoping the weather cooperates so I can start refining my streamer/wet fly game.
Got my first carp yesterday. That was a blast.
Well done, and have fun. 🙂
Steve I have caught many browns like that this year in that same area. I was told by Neil Hagstrom that the area was stocked with 1500 of the F.R.survivor strain brown fingerlings late last fall. They do look like they are surviving well. In a few years they should be doing great without another drought.
I helped facilitate that stocking by doing some lower river water temp surveying for Neal last September. Yesterday I was fishing a run that’s nowhere near where they put in those SS trout. I’m glad you’re finding that the SS held over nicely.