Children are welcome as long as they are accompanied by an adult in each boat. Children 12 and under are required to wear a life vest at all times while in the boats. Realistically, the experience is best suited for children over 10, but we have taken children out as young as 5 years old. Be sure to let us know that you have children as part of your group when making your booking.

Absolutely!

No, we only practice catch and release fishing on our guided fly fishing trips.

Yes, be sure to let us know if you have a preference, but we recommend being flexible as weather and water conditions can change quickly. The variety of options around Bozeman ensure that we almost always have a few good options for the day when conditions change.

The guides typically choose the destination the morning of each trip based on weather, water conditions, time constraints, and crowds - so be sure to let the guide know if there is someplace that you prefer or would like to avoid as well.

No, we do not offer guided trips using conventional tackle - we only offer catch and release fly-fishing trips as that is our expertise.

Generally speaking, we do not cancel trips due to weather unless conditions are unsafe. We generally plan to go out in a wide range of conditions including rain and even snow - so be sure to check the weather prior to your trip to ensure that you dress accordingly. Sometimes, days are cut short due to afternoon thunderstorms due to safety but we do not offer partial refunds or credits in those situations. View our deposit policy.

The length of the day depends on the fishing destination, water conditions, fish activity, and angler requests. The standard full day guide trip is usually a 7-9-hour experience with 5-7 hours on the water - we can shorten these days up for folks on more limited schedules

Half-day trips are 4 hours in duration from start to finish and are only offered with early morning starts when available. We can accommodate any time restraints on your end with advance notice.

Absolutely! All of our guides are patient instructors and work with anglers of all skill levels, everyday. Guests are often amazed at how quickly they pick up the basics of fly fishing with a few minutes of training at the start of the day.

We recommend float trips as this is the best way to fly-fish around Bozeman as they enable our guides to take full advantage of the varied local fisheries to ensure our guests the best experience. Our local Montana fly-fishing rivers with easy wading access are often very crowded near the access points, requiring long walks on slippery and unstable river bottoms to get away from other anglers. Floating gives our guides plenty of choices, each day, so that they can be flexible when conditions change from day to day (which is quite common). We have been offering guided Montana fly-fishing trips in Bozeman for 23 years and have now "phased out" wade-only trips during our peak-season ( June - September) the experience is not consistently as productive or enjoyable for our guests. The truly unique aspect of Bozeman fly fishing is the diversity and abundance of wild trout fisheries within an hour's drive - these are all best suited for fishing from a drift boat.

Our guide to client ratio is always 1:1 or 1:2 - we cater to larger groups of up to 20 anglers with advanced notice. Floating allows these groups to spend the day near one another and have lunches together while also ensuring that everyone has access to good water throughout the day.

Typically, Montana fly-fishing guide services can handle 1-2 anglers per guide, for safety reasons and to ensure a quality experience. Fly-fishing instruction requires a "hands-on" approach from the guide, the effectiveness of which diminishes quickly when they are working with more than 1-2 anglers, simultaneously. The boats used for drifting and fly-fishing are small (16 feet long) drift-boats that a total of 3 people with an interior layout that includes one seat in both in the front and the back of the boat for anglers. The guide rows the boat, downstream, to maintain a position the favorable trout-holding water while coaching the anglers and safely navigating the diverse waterways.

Each guide trip is setup for 1-2 anglers in terms of reservations and pricing, meaning the price is the same whether there is 1 or 2 anglers in the booking. Group trips that consist of 3-10 anglers are common and easily accommodated. We recognize that groups usually like to spend the day near one another on the river so our guides will all float the same stretch of river together on group bookings.

We do not put more than 2 anglers together with one guide as we have learned that the quality of the experience is not up to our standards. Additionally, our guides are responsible for client safety and 3 anglers is simply too many people for a single guide to be responsible for while rowing a boat or wading across a river.

Generally speaking, bring personal gear like a raincoat, sunglasses, warm layer, hat, some snacks, and any special medications (epi-pen, insulin, etc.) that you may require. The guides provide use of gear and all terminal tackle such as leader, tippet, and flies for during your guided fly-fishing experience.

Guides provide deli-style lunches and a small selection of non-alcoholic drinks as well. They will go through a few lunch options with you during their check-in call or text which typically takes place the evening prior to your trip.

Feel free to bring your own rods, reels, wader, wading boots and flies along if you have them as well. Our gear list will give you some guidance and feel free to e-mail us ahead of time for specific gear recommendations.

Use of all gear (waders, boots, rods, reels, terminal tackle, and flies), drinks, transfer to and from the fishing destination, and lunches on full-day trips. Fishing license and private water fees are not included in the standard rates.

The daily ($595) and half-day ($525) apply to groups of 1 or 2 anglers per guide.

Guides cover their own expenses such as gas, shuttles, lunches, drinks, ice, flies, boats, insurance, and equipment. The standard gratuity is $125-$150 per day/per guide (1-2 anglers) for a job well done. Cash paid directly to the guide at the end of your trip is the standard practice.

Specially designed drift boats are 16’ long fiberglass with one seat in the front and one in the back. The guide rows the boat from a seat in the middle of the boat. We also use rafts with similar custom-built frames with similar layouts to out drift boats.

Wade fishing requires that the angler is in good condition with excellent balance. Float trips are less demanding physically, but anglers need to be able to sit comfortably for several hours and to be able to stand up/sit down without assistance. We are able to accommodate anglers with disabilities and poor mobility with advance notice. Most of our trips are float trips with some optional opportunities to get out and wade fish throughout the day when situations present themselves.