Looking to book a trip to Montana next summer to fly fish for a week with my brother. We have never been and looking for input from TFFers who have done it. I'd like to hire a guide for the first day, then spend every waking hour on the river by ourselves for the remainder of our week.

1. Where should we go (town and lodging recommendations)?
2. Who should we rent equipment through?
3. What is a ballpark cost from your experience?
4. What else should we consider while up there?

I'm researching in parallel, but always welcome input from you guys. Private message me if you like.

Thanks guys,

-Neil

I've never fished there but from googling, looks like you'll want to fish the higher altitude, smaller rivers for cooler waters in the summertime. Also said some of the rivers can be closed down if it gets too hot.

https://1source.basspro.com/news-tips/trout/7444/tips-trout-fishing-summer-heat

Find out when the hopper bite is in full swing and go then. And keep an eye out for bears.

for great fly fishing trout and guides. Fort Smith Montana as all the flyfishing information you will need. World class fishing there. I am not sure best time to fish but the guides there can tell you.

just one of many guided trips

https://bighornfly.com/

Checkout https://glacierguides.com/
Plenty of River and Lake fishing around Glacier National Park

I've been to Big Sky, Montana to fly fish the Gallatin River. I highly recommend it. It is absolutely beautiful there and the fly fishing is great. I'm not sure about guides, my dad grew up fly fishing and showed us the ropes. There are local tackle shops where we bought flies and you can rent waders there too.


It is also within a day's trip of Yellow Stone which is fun. Other than fishing, the best part of the trip was white water rafting the Gallatin.


Fly fishing guides can be very expensive from what I've heard. I know someone who spent $500 on an hour long guide trip out there.


Have a great trip. I hope to get back there soon. Maybe in the spring.

Go to Cody, Wyoming instead of Montana. Go fishing with North Fork Anglers.

I have been up there three times . We towed a boat up all three times ( from Boise, Id ) , but still did some river fishing . We stayed up there 4 days each time . West Yellowstone is kinda a main area for fly fisherman to congregate and the bigger fly shops have access to lots of guides . We fished the Madison , North Fork for rivers . For lakes we fished Yellowstone , Lake Henry , Hebgen and Island Park .
Yellowstone and Henry's are AMAZING . Over a three day period on those lakes ---two us landed over 300 cutthroats , rainbows and the occasional Brookie up to 5 lbs . On the Madison and North Fork we mainly fished using nymphs with indicators --- got some browns up to 3 lbs . We used a guide for the rivers --- but he has passed on .
We usually went up late June to early July --- and stayed close to Lake Henry's . If you have never fished there , the bug hatches are insane . Mayfly's can get so thick they look like tons of giant black clouds --- bring a head net for twilight . The guides really know the bug hatches and totally focus on that for success .
The last time I went , our guide wanted to take us to a Grayling lake , hiking in with float tubes ---- two day's before , a guy was attacked by a grizzly at the lake and had most of his face ripped off , lost one of his eye's , part of an arm and survived . He had to hike himself 4 miles out to safety , the fly shop had photo's of him and it totally freaked me out . We went to the Madison instead .
Unless your a highly skilled fly fisherman , don't waste a lot of time using dry flies ---- it's really hard to have success with those.

You'll want at least one full day or 2 half day float trips. They are usually about $500 ish for a full day and that would be both of you not each I believe.
Many provide all your gear.

Ennis Mt is well, known for it's fly fishing.

Lots of great fly fishing in Wyoming as well, make it a combo trip with Montana. Platte River is well known for big trout. Cody has great fishing as well, Jackson has scenery and decent fishing.

Late summer is when water temps get too hot for fish to survive the fight. Montana is in drought so flows on rivers may be an issue. Too early in summer and rivers are too high for fishing.

This is the Outdoor Boys on YouTube. Luke recently posted where he took his family on a guided two day trip on the Blackfoot.

The best fly fishing river in Montana is the Missouri. It's drift fishing for the most part depending on what time of year you go.
Stay in Craig. I wouldn't book anything until I knew what the run off is going to be like and you won't know that until April.
I put in every year for a lottery to float the Smith river for 5 days, hopefully I will hit it this next year.

go to some flyfishing forums and see what some of them recommend, combine them with what you get here and decide on a river.

look up a couple of fly shops in the area and call them about what the hatch is typically during the time of yr. you plan on going, who guides in the area etc. make some small talk about your trip and let them recommend.

like said, runoff is an april/may deal, snowmelt won't peak that far north till around memorial day or just after, high water sucks for flyfishing. I always preferred to go mid june on in colorado, water is clearer and going down some, you could wade fish without worrying about taking a swim.

for montana fishing, I highly recommend drift boats over rafts etc. they are high ended dories and excellent fishing platforms in the river.

I would suggest also that you look into a week or 10 day type fishing/float trip, way better than waders and fishing a strange river.

It's been a few years, but I had an excellent trip to Missoula. We fished the Clarks Fork, and the Bitterroot. The Clarks fork will be more accessible for you after your guide trip for walk in fishing. Book a float trip rather than wading so you can cover more water. There is / was a big outfitter shop in the old part of downtown Missoula that set everything up for us. They had all the current flies, and good reports on the local hatch. We stayed at a place called The Missoula River Lodge. It was nice, but nothing real special. I was with a big group, and they handled us well. As soon as I get a chance, I will go back. It's a beautiful area, and the fishing was really good. Have fun.

start buyin deet now, the skeeters up there eat ours for snacks and the black flies can really ruin a day if they get thick.