Complete Fly Fisher

The lodge sits on Montana Highway 43 in the Big Hole Valley at Wise River, and the Big Hole is its home water, a river that rises in the Beaverhead Mountains and joins the Ruby and Beaverhead to form the Jefferson. Guided days are fully outfitted drift boat trips, with the format shifting through the year alongside the flows: spring runoff peaks near 8,000 cubic feet per second and floats can cover as much as 25 miles in a day, while by late summer the river drops toward 400 cfs and autumn levels open the river up to wading. The salmonfly hatch from mid June into early July is the signature event, fished with big orange attractors to rising fish, and those dates book early. Anglers encounter rainbow, brown and brook trout along with arctic grayling, which the lodge notes the Big Hole is one of the last places on earth to catch. Nearby, the Beaverhead holds notably large brown trout. Fishing is packaged with breakfast, lunch and dinner as part of the stay.