Guide Services
Why a Guided Trip?
The Kootenai River, even at minimum flow, is a large river impossible to wade across. Anglers fishing our area without a guide and boat often meet with only limited success. Discovering the best stretches of water, as well as proper flies and effective techniques, can be a formidable task, especially in the limited amount of time available on a vacation. Long sections of the river are privately owned and unavailable for public access. We are easily able to work these areas by drift fishing. Having spent many years fishing the Kootenai, and being a riverside resident, I know the water and the hatches intimately, as do our guides.
Our guide service also offers excellent instruction for fly fishing Montana to the beginning fisher as well as being able to demonstrate effective local techniques to the more experienced. Your enjoyment is our desire.
Dave provides a wealth of knowledge and experience to his guide team and customers. You will find Dave most days at his mobile office on the river. During the off season he is a speaker and a musician for The Fly Fishing Show.
There are times when the river will run at very high flows for power requirements, making bank fishing almost impossible. During higher flows, many fish move into backwater channels and eddies. Often, larger rainbows will move into these spots to get out of the heavy current. There they become very aggressive feeders. With the higher flows, the bigger fish sometimes seem to be less wary. At these times, float fishing is extremely productive.
Personalized Instruction
Personalized fly fishing instruction is one of our main objectives at Kootenai Angler. Another objective is to provide the total experience of fly fishing and trout fishing Montana, not just numbers of fish. Did you happen to see that flycatcher in the bushes ambushing caddis flies in their mating swarm? How about that Osprey hovering above the rapids? Watch him tuck and dive, coming up with a fish in talons. A day on the river should be informative and stimulating as well as fun and relaxing.
At Kootenai Angler we feel our guide team is the best on the river and leads the best fly fishing in Montana. The team is made of the most experienced and established guides on the river. In the past, Tammy, myself, and some of our guide staff thought and talked about what makes the Kootenai Angler unique in style and philosophy. We’ve never been drawn to the flashy titles, hype marketing, or the bold public relations tactics that are common in the fly fishing world today.
