Montana, Idaho, Wyoming - USA July-August each year

Click here for USA 2010 reports on Antony's Blog

All of you will be familiar with the sort of fishing available in the Rocky Mountains due to the sheer volume of magazines, books and DVD's that have sprung out of the trout fishing industry there. Half of the fly fishing companies in the world are based in Montana and Idaho, a huge number of fly patterns we all use were designed there and the Rocky Mountain states are blessed with an abundance of natural resources and stunning fly fishing. Simply put there is nothing else like it!

We are offering you the opportunity to join us next July-August and fish some of the best locations in the USA. Utilising all of our years of experience and our contacts we are able to offer you a trip a with a mix of fishing opportunities. From drift boats to spring creeks, canyon hikes to overnight floats.

These trips are unique in that that all budgets are catered for. Only the base cost of accommodation and an organisational fee is charged by us. Everything else is scaleable depending on your needs, wishes and budget. The idea is twelve days with us based in an area to be determined early in the year once we have established how the winter's snow pack is looking.

We work out the where and when. We then organise a big home suitable for the group and work with local guides to provide float trips on a day to day basis depending on the budget/wishes of those that join us. You can do it as cheaply as you like or drift every day. That is up to each individual person. You will be based on some of the best water imaginable with literally hundreds of options nearby.

Choose to arrive early or to stay on and fish/tour on your own should you have the time up your sleeve. The options are limitless.

Brief overview of the Fishing

Late July-early August is peak summer. Generally speaking this means hatches of aquatic insects and the start of the terrestrials. In a drier year there could be grasshoppers towards the end of the trip.

Most rivers will have world class hatches of caddis and mayfly such PMDS with tricos making an appearance also. The dry fly fishing is amazing and the numbers of fish unfathomable to Australian fly fishers. Many of the rivers we fished had 6000+ trout per mile.

Fish species include brook, cutthroat, rainbow and brown trout. Sometimes you can catch three of these in the same river or in the same pool.

The drift boat fishing is superb and opens up a million and one fishing opportunities. We recommend that you budget to do at least two shared drift boat trips (one in each location) to make the most of the fishing and learn from the local guides.

Getting There

Overnight flights from the east coast of Australia (Melbourne and Sydney to Los Angeles or San Francisco) depart daily.

You can then immediately jump from LA to Denver or Salt Lake City (2 hour flight) and then a further hour to Bozeman or Jackson Hole depending on the final destination (TBD).

Airfare specials are available early in the new year with tickets between $1000 and $1600 AUS regularly offered by the major airlines. Roundtrip internal connections should be between $500-800. With the Australian dollar powering away this could be the ideal time to take this trip.

Package

We organise the fishing, localised fishing information and the accommodation. You choose how many days you wish to fish on your own/with us and how many you drift with a guide. I would recommend doing at least two drifts during your stay. We will not be guiding during the trip although you may end up fishing with each of us at some stage.

Food for breakfasts will be purchased and prepared at our accommodation. You can also make your own lunches although we tend to just buy sandwiches everyday. Dinner is a social occasion and we eat out each night. Of course you are welcome to do your own meals but as eating out is inexpensive, we tend to go out each night.

Prices

The price is $1750 USD and includes all accommodation and organisation on our part (about 120 hours per year). Please don't be put off thinking that the price is too low therefore it cannot be a good trip. Our clients come from all walks of life from humble students to the elite of Australian law, finance and medicine. We feel that the base package should be available to everyone regardless of their budget. Being able to keep the price low also makes it possible for people to pack in as many drift boat trips as possible in the 12 days as it really is the best way to fish some of these rivers.

Our relationship with local lodges/shops guarantees us access to the best guides and trips in the region. As such this year we have been offered the chance to do their limited number overnight float through a rugged canyon which everyone has taken the opportunity to sign up for.

Another bonus for participants is that we are invited to dinner each year at one of the West's best lodges. This is a great night that takes place on the banks of a private spring fed creek where the fish are always eager. This an amazing event and one that if we were paying for would immediately bump up the price of the entire trip by about 50%!

++++ TRIP DATES LISTED - MONDAY JULY 30 - FRIDAY AUGUST 10 ++++

This trip will run from Monday July 30 - Friday August 10th inclusive. We will be fishing on all these days. The trip will be lead by David Pickering and me (Antony Boliancu). The fly in/out airport will be Jackson (Hole), Wyoming so that we are centrally located and able to quickly get to the best fishing in Montana or Eastern Idaho.

On top of this base cost you will have personal daily costs of approximately $130 USD/Day (to cover food, drinks, fuel and other incidentals). There is no guiding by us on this trip. We will be leading the group and fishing with/assisting you when required but only as fishing companions. We are not working on these trips and as such are not charging for any services. This is a holiday for us as well.

Having said that we can organise guiding and float trips with local guides at the going rate once there. Expect to pay about $510 for a full day float trip split two ways ($255 each) + minimum 20% tip. I recommend doing at least four drift boat trips (most choose to do 6-8) as they are amazing and you will learn a lot about the fisheries/local history and have a great time. Of course you can choose to just catch loads of cutthroat, rainbows and browns while wade fishing the hundreds of rivers in the immediate area at no additional cost above the payment to us for accommodation/organisation.

Other expenses to factor in are fishing licences ($100 approx) and car hire (about $90/day split two ways i.e. $45 each x 12 days). We will help you to book your cars once you have booked with us. We will also arrange a lunch meeting in Melbourne one weekend where all participants will meet and get to work out things such as car hire and who wants a traveling companion.

Accommodation will be on a large ranch style property, probably with river frontage or at least near to a river. The number of trip participants will be 8 plus David and myself for a total of 10.

We require payment of $1750 USD upfront when booking so that we can confidently book our flights and pay for suitable accommodation. As accommodation in the regions we will be going to is limited and demand is high, it is expensive and we will need to book it at least 10 months in advance.

Once you book with us we will direct you to the appropriate car hire companies in Jackson Hole so that you can then book your vehicles. This requires no deposit; only a valid credit card and can be cancelled up until the day of pick up without charge. We can also assist you to find the most appropriate flights although it is a pretty simple proposition. Your itinerary would look something like Melbourne-Los Angeles-Denver/Salt Lake City-Bozeman-Denver/Salt Lake City-Los Angeles-Melbourne.

For the 12 days in Montana we envisage that each participant will be up for an approximate total of around $3000 excluding airfare. If for some reason you need to cancel your trip the $1750 USD payment to us is refundable only if we can find another trip participant.

To summarise the procedure for booking this trip.

1. Phone us to discuss your needs and determine whether this trip is a good fit.
2. Visit the ESTA website and get a Visa waiver for travel to the USA.
3. Book by paying us $1750 USD
4. Book your car hire for the days of Sunday July 29 - Saturday August 11 inclusive.
5. Book your return airfare to Bozeman, Montana.
6. Purchase US cash for daily expenses/car hire when the dollar is strong!

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Below is the outline of our 2012 Trip Itinerary to give you an idea of what we are doing. This year's participants have mostly chosen to do 6-8 days of drifting. As such we start out with three days to get into the swing of things. After that guides can be engaged on a day to day basis. This is because some people will want to explore other rivers, places like Yellowstone National park (1 hour away) and also have time to just relax and see Montana/Idaho. Some members of the group are going to the Winston Factory on the weekend for a tour as well seeing the many historical sights.

This trip is for folks on any sort of budget. You can go guiding on a different river every day or go at a more relaxed pace. We stay in beautiful homes very close to great rivers (<5mins in this case) and the rest is up to each individual to decide which way they will go.

Phone for more info about our 2013 trips.