Let our Livingston Montana fly fishing guides introduce you to our home waters—in a drift boat or on foot, in Montana or Yellowstone Park, famous or under-the-radar.
Yellowstone Country Fly Fishing’s Montana fly fishing guides are based in Livingston, MT, right in the heart of Montana trout country. We offer a wide range of guided fly fishing trips for experts and beginners alike. Our Livingston Montana fly fishing guides offer trips year-round whenever weather and water conditions allow.
The core of our business is drift boat and raft trips on rivers near Livingston, but we also run a huge range of other trips. Want to get off the beaten path in Yellowstone Park? We’ve been dodging crowds on our wade trips there for 20+ years.
We don’t offer any prepackaged multi-day trips. Why not? Because we custom-plan all our trips, whether they’re a half-day in duration or involve fishing several rivers over several days. If you’re looking to plan out a multi-day trip, we’d love to help you put together a package that perfectly matches your party’s skills, goals, and interests.
Read on for more info on any of our trips, or feel free to reach out.
Purple Hazy Cripple fly, one of our custom fly patterns. Deadly in the fall!
What makes us different?
- We’ll always tell it to you straight. We prefer 100% honesty with potential clients, even if it sometimes costs us a booking when we admit the fishing is slow.
- The fish don’t always bite, but we can always make our clients better anglers. Our Livingston Montana fly fishing guides focus on education, not just “catching fish.”
- We strive to shed crowds. We start earlier, hike further, float rougher water, and fish the “odds and ends” to ditch the hordes.
- We catch more of our fish on dry flies than anybody else in the area.
- We don’t just tie our own flies, we design our own patterns. Standard flies mean standard results. Our bugs are better.
- Want to try something off the wall? We’re in. Carp? Definitely! 6″ native trout in off-the-grid creeks? We love them! Dry fly Tenkara out of the drift boat? We’re the only outfitter that does it.
- We’re one of the few guide services to offer reduced rates on full-day trips for solo anglers. Fewer flies and less lunch means lower prices.
Drift Boat & Raft Float Trips
Our Livingston Montana fly fishing guides offer drift boat and whitewater fishing raft trips on the Yellowstone, Boulder, Madison, and several other great rivers. With hundreds of miles of the troutiest float water in the country available within 2hr, we’ve got everything from gentle pools flanked by great scenery to raging whitewater. It’s little wonder that float trips are the core of our business.
- Available early March through early November. Mid-April through mid-October is prime season.
- Suitable for anglers of any skill level and almost any fitness, ages 10 and up.
- Fast-paced whitewater or scenic and mellow, lots of trout on dries or a few big ones on streamers—your choice!
- Rates start at $525.
Float & Wade Trips
Float from spot to spot, then get out to wade fish prime areas that shore-bound anglers can’t reach and most floaters blow right by. Slower-paced than most float trips, faster-paced and less tiring than most wade trips. Few Livingston Montana fly fishing guides offer these trips, but with the right clients, we love them.
- Available early March through early November. Spring and fall are prime time on the Yellowstone River.
- Suitable for anglers of any skill level, ages 12 and up. Best for fit clients.
- Ideal for anglers who want to focus on learning proper techniques and who would rather work small areas thoroughly.
- Rates start at $575.
Walk & Wade Trips
Hike into mountain meadow creeks or the mighty Black Canyon of the Yellowstone in search of solitude, scenery, and lots of unpressured wild trout. On most walk & wade trips we emphasize shedding crowds and showing our guests the “real Yellowstone” away from the roads and popular tourist attractions.
- Yellowstone Park trips available Memorial Day Weekend through October. Mid-June through October is prime time. Limited Montana trips are available year-round.
- Suitable for anglers of any skill level, ages 10 and up. Best for fit clients who are eager to hike and/or scramble around boulders and brush. Come play in the creek!
- Ideal for first-time fly-fishers, especially younger and/or less-patient clients.
- Great opportunities for wildlife watching, berry picking, and fantastic scenery most visitors to the region miss, if you don’t just want to focus on fishing.
- Peak season rates start at $550 in Yellowstone Park and $525 in Montana.
Power Boat Trips
Boat pretty mountain and prairie reservoirs with our Livingston Montana fly fishing guides. These reservoirs produce lots of solid trout when most rivers are muddy, or you can get crazy and sight-cast grasshoppers for carp in late summer.
- Available April through October. April through early June is prime trout season.
- Better for experienced anglers.
- Limited fly fishing competition.
- Great choice during spring runoff, when rivers are either muddy or crowded.
- Rates start at $525.
Private Water Trips
Private spring creeks and lakes provide easy access and seldom fishing for large but often difficult trout, especially in the “shoulder seasons” when other trips are often not at their best. Additional access fees apply.
- Walk & wade spring creek trips are available year-round, but are best in March and April.
- Private lake float trips are available from early April through early July and from September 1 through mid-October. Best from late April through late June and in late September and early October.
- Larger than average trout, including real monsters. Even the average fish can be difficult to catch, though…
- All private water trips are suitable for patient anglers ages 12 and up. Spring creek trips are suitable for advanced and expert fly anglers. Lake trips are suitable for any anglers who can cast 40+ feet.
- Rates start at $575 plus access fees charged by the landowner.
Beginner Trips
Are you a rookie overwhelmed by all the options? This page is for you.
Here we talk about the trips and time periods that are best for those who have never fly fished before and want to get started right with our Livingston Montana fishing guides.
Learn More
Guided Trip Rates, Terms, and F.A.Q.
This page covers the money stuff. Here’s the short version:
- Full-day trips in Montana cost $625 for one angler and $650 for two. In Yellowstone Park they cost $675 for 1–2 anglers. Additional fees of $25 apply to some distant destinations.
- Half-day rates in Montana are $525 for one or two anglers. In YNP they are $550.
- Spring and fall shoulder season trips in Montana cost $575 and are basically “3/4-day” in length. Additional fees of $25 apply when we use private boat launches.
- Winter walk & wade trips run 3hr not counting travel and cost $375.
- Trips require a 50% deposit ($1500 max deposit). Deposits are refundable up to 30 days in advance. Cancellations within 7 days of the trip require payment of the full trip price.
- We include the guide service, all necessary flies & tackle, transportation from a prearranged meeting point, water, soft drinks, snacks, and lunch on full-day trips.
- We do not include: fishing licenses, private water access fees, Yellowstone Park entrance fees, wading gear, raingear or other personal attire, alcoholic beverages, or guide gratuities. Note that clients seldom need wading gear on float trips.
Guided Trip Destinations
We’re in the middle of a wealth of fisheries, including several of the top-twenty float-fishing trout rivers in the United States and more mountain creeks than anybody could fly fish in a lifetime. Check out this page to learn where, when, and why our Livingston Montana fly fishing guides fish various places to get an idea of where we’re likely to fish with you.
Our approximate operations area is shaded in green.
Guided Trip Packing List
We send out a detailed itinerary for every trip we book, but this page covers the basics you should always plan to bring on a guided trip. It’s not a bad place to begin for packing for your DIY trips, too.
Yes, you need a raincoat. A good one, most of the year. The photo was shot in late May.