Bozeman Fly Fishing Guide | Montana Angler Fly Fishing

Fly fishing near Bozeman
Bozeman is centrally located amongst several of Montana's finest rivers, spring creeks and lakes. Anglers basing a fishing vacation in or near Bozeman can experience an unprecedented variety of world class fishing opportunities. Many of our guests that return year after year are still exploring new waters on each of their visits with us. The diversity of Bozeman fly fishing allows our guides to focus on the river or creek that is fishing the best at the moment. With so many waters to choose from there is always a location that is hitting its peak nearly every month of the fishing season.

Yellowstone River
The mighty Yellowstone river is one of the world's great fly fishing destinations. Montana Angler fishes over 100 miles of this river from Yellowstone Park to Columbus. While we use drift boats on most of the Yellowstone, we are one of the only outfitters in Montana that has class V whitewater trained guides capable of rowing the rapids of Yankee Jim canyon with fly fishing equipped rafts. The Yellowstone is a favorite of our guests!

Gallatin River
The Gallatin River originates in Yellowstone National Park and flows through a spectacular canyon after leaving the park. Primarily a wade fishing river, it is loaded with eager trout that inhabit its crystal clear waters. All of the fly fishing scenes from "A River Runs Through it" were filmed in the scenic Gallatin Canyon.

East Gallatin River
The East Gallatin is located just outside of Bozeman. It is a smaller river, but we can still use small rafts to access it for float trips in the early summer. Multiple spring creeks feed the river resulting in a productive fishery with prolific hatches and large trout.

Madison River
The Madison is frequently rated the number one fly fishing river in North America. With an incredible trout density, fish over 30", diverse water, and spectacular scenery it is no surprise why this river has captured the imagination of the world's greatest fly fisherman. The Madison is a very consistent fishery and produces great action from April to October.

Bear Trap Canyon Wilderness Area
Montana Angler fly fishing guides Brian and Miles McGeehan are two of a small handful of guides qualified to run Bear Trap Canyon of the Madison. Bear Trap Canyon is a federal wilderness area with very limited access. There is only one permit for commercial fishing on the water (owned by Combs Outfitting, we operate the trips through his license out of the Tackle Shop in Ennis). Only 40 days, limited to two rafts per trip, are offered each year in the canyon making it one of the most sought after trips in North America. The size and aggressiveness of the lightly pressured trout in Bear Trap impresses even the most experienced anglers. Combine great fishing with 3000 foot cliff walls, class V whitewater, moose, eagles and mountain goats and you can imagine why this trip is so highly regarded.

Ruby River
The Ruby is a gorgeous river that is just a short jaunt from Bozeman. It's small size is perfect for wade fishing. Both browns and rainbows inhabit the Ruby and you will be amazed by the size of the trout it holds for such a small river. When the Ruby gets hot, it can offer some of the best fly fishing in Montana.

Boulder River
The Boulder River is one of Montana's true gems. Originating in the Absoraka Beartooth Wildernes just north of Yellwostone Park, it tumbles at a brisk pace past some of the states most spectacular vistas. The Boulder River valley is where Robert Redford filmed "The Horse Whisperer". Big Sky Angler is one of the few outfitters in the region that have the rafts and expert guides required to float its tumultuous boulder strewn currents. The crystal clear water is home to aggressive browns and rainbows that eagerly await our attractor dry flies.

Missouri River
Another of Montana's world famous rivers, the Missouri is formed when the Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson rivers join at Three Forks. We fish the Upper Missouri above Canyon Ferry reservoir in the spring and the fall when huge trout run out of the lake. If you want to swing for the fences and try for a fish in the 25-30" range, this is the place.

Stillwater River
The Stillwater is a another fast and rocky river that we use rafts to float fish. It has high trout numbers and can be one of the best attractor dry fly rivers in Montana when it is flowing at the right water levels.

Jefferson River
The "Jeff" is a larger river that feeds the Missouri. Although it does not hold the same numbers of trout that the other are rivers do, it receives light fishing pressure and has some large fish. The Jefferson is a nice river to get away from it all, see a gorgeous river and catch some pristine wild trout.

Bigorn River
The Bighorn is a large tailwater in the plains near the Prior Mountains in Souther Montana. It is several hours from the other rivers that we fish, but many of our guides focus on this fishery during late May and early June when some other river are high from snowmelt. The Bighorn is dam controlled so its flows are moderated. The river is famous for having the highest density of trout of any river in North America. With an average trout running about 18", it is one of Montana's most popular rivers.

Smith River
The Smith is a legendary wilderness float in Central Montana. Fish Wildlife and Parks restricts the number of launches per day ensuring that the fishing on over 60 miles of water devoid of public access remains lightly pressured. The river cooridore is composed of towering limestone cliffs, dense forests and abundant wildlife. Smith river fly fishing trips are 5 or 6 day adventures spent camping and fishing along the river.

Small streams
There are thousands of miles of small streams in Western Montana. Even the smallest creeks hold healthy populations of wild trout. Some of our favorites have some suprisingly large fish.

Spring creeks
We offer trips on some of the world's most famous spring creeks including DePuy's, Armstrongs, Nelson's, Milesnick's, and McCoy's spring creeks. These productive fisheries all originate from underground springs and offer the perfect water temperatures to trout year round. The ideal environment of the creeks allows them to become aquatic insect factories resulting in exceptional match the hatch fishing. Our guides are masters of these technical fisheries and will reveal the secrets you need to have success with their selective trout.

Lake fishing
We have several large reservoirs such as Hebgen Lake, Ennis Lake, Harrison Lake and Canyon Ferry Lake near Bozeman that offer fantastic site fishing to large trout rising to mayfly hatches. The trout in the lakes average 18-22" in lenght and can produce some of the best match-the-hatch dry fly fishing of your life!

Private ranches
We have permission on several private ranches that are a short drive from Bozeman. Fishing options range from site casting to monstrous trophy trout in small irrigation reservoirs to wade fishing pristine small streams in wilderness canyons.

Backcountry alpine lakes and streams
Our horsepack partner has access to thousands of acres of wilderness in the high elevation alpine country north of the Yellowstone National Park boundary. Fly fishing on these wilderness trips on remote streams and lakes can be fabulous. This is some of the wildest country in the lower 48!