Montana Fishing Outfitters' Pro Fishing Guides
Without a doubt, the key to the past and future success of Montana Fishing Outfitters is the awesome and professional guides we have on our team.
Hardworking, fun, patient and knowledgeable are the attributes we look for in our guides and we have been lucky to find some of the best in the business to work with. We have fished with salty-old-dog guides ourselves and know that it is not a fun way to spend a day.
The relationship between guide and angler is a personal one, and we do our very best to match our client's personality and experience with that of their guide for their trip. We take great pride in making each and every fishing trip we plan be as fun and productive as possible, and it all begins with the crew below.
Garrett Munson
Where he's from: The Chicagoland area - Go Cubs!
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: Hard to beat the Smith River, but I'm spoiled
Favorite hatch to fish: Missouri River March Brown hatch - brown trout love those bugs!
Favorite fly to fish : The Klinkhammer, it's making a big comeback in my boat
Taylor Todd
Where he's from: Northern California, but don’t hold it against me.
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: The Missouri
Favorite hatch to fish: PMD’s on the Mo or salmonflies on the Blackfoot, it’s hard to tell
Favorite fly to fish: Probably some dry fly with a parachute on it
Drew Christian
Where he's from: Helena, MT
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: Smith River solitude
Favorite hatch to fish: Golden Stoneflies on the Big Hole
Favorite fly to fish: The Chubby!
Billy Brann
Where he's from: Utah, home of the Bonneville Cutthroat Trout
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: Bitterroot
Favorite hatch to fish: Green Drakes, they bring all the big boys to the yard
Favorite fly to fish: Stalcup’s Spring Creek Hopper is a very nice natural looking terrestrial, if you can see it
Adam Spenner
Where he's from: Missoula, MT
Where he is now: Missoula, MT
Favorite Montana water: Tough call...tie between the Blackfoot, Bitterroot and Big Hole Rivers
Favorite hatch to fish: The one that's coming on next
Favorite fly to fish: A size 10 Low Rider Show Stopper Hopper
Forrest Fawthrop
Where he's from: Townsend, MT
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: The whole Missouri River system
Favorite hatch to fish: PMDs at the LOG
Favorite fly to fish: Large flashy and nasty streamers
Dorn Brown
Where he's from: Columbia, SC
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: The Missouri completely change my life so that’s an easy pick for me…Wolf Creek to Craig for life
Favorite hatch to fish: The PMD hatch on the MO is madness, I dream about it
Favorite fly to fish: Dry flies on 4x
Eddie Fryen
Where he's from: Land of the deep dish
Where he is now: Paradise
Favorite Montana water: Pass
Favorite hatch to fish: Tricos
Favorite fly to fish: Half A Chicken
Paul Fawthrop
Where he's from: Schroon Lake, NY
Where he is now: Townsend, MT
Favorite Montana water: Land of the Giants and Ft. Peck Reservoir
Favorite hatch to fish: Callibaetis at LOG, it’s pretty wild
Favorite fly to fish: I’m kind of a streamer guy when it comes down to it
Sean Blaine
Where he's from: Twin Lakes, Idaho
Where he is now: Bozeman, MT
Favorite Montana water: I could tell you, but well...it's a secret.
Favorite hatch to fish: Pale Morning Duns
Favorite fly to fish: PMD sparkle dun
Mark Slayden
Where he's from: Portland, Oregon
Where he is now: Missoula...only 20 minutes from Montana for 36 years and counting.
Favorite Montana water: Blackfoot River....I bought a house on it's banks I love it so much
Favorite hatch to fish: Spruce Moth hatch - trout go absolutely crazy over these bugs!
Favorite fly to fish: The one that's working best
Tanner Duncan
Where he's from: Helena, MT
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: If I told you, I'd have to kill you. Let's just say the Missouri River watershed
Favorite hatch to fish: My favorite hatch is the current hatch. However, a good golden stone hatch is always fun
Favorite fly to fish: The one that works!
Tyson Nunley
Where he's from: Livingston, MT
Where he is now: Billings, MT
Favorite Montana water: The Yellowstone, of course
Favorite hatch to fish: Tailwater tricos - the grassier the better!
Favorite fly to fish: Big, white and articulated
Kurt Michels
Where he's from: Helena, MT
Where he is now: Craig, MT
Favorite Montana water: Its all so good, can't choose just one
Favorite hatch to fish: Goldenstones
Favorite fly to fish: Any dry fly
John LaRue
Where he's from: I grew up on blue ribbon trout waters of Colorado, Maine, and Michigan
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: Hard to beat the Mo, we’re pretty spoiled
Favorite hatch to fish: Used to be the bikini hatch but I’m too old for that now. I like the skwala hatch on Rock Creek… first good one of the season
Favorite fly to fish: My favorite fly is the one on the end of a tight line
Mike Niles
Where he's from: Fairview, MT
Where he is now: Craig, MT
Favorite Montana water: The Sun River
Favorite hatch to fish: Missouri River PMD hatch - practice your reach cast!
Favorite fly to fish: Anything under an indicator
Stephen Caldwell
Where he's from: Helena, MT
Where he is now: Helena, MT
Favorite Montana water: Have to to go with Mo, she keeps you humble
Favorite hatch to fish: Missouri River trico hatch, you gotta be perfect
Favorite fly to fish: Wire worm and a pheasant tail or a Griffith's gnat - one should get the job done
Craig Boyd
Where he's from: Calgary, Alberta Canada
Where he is now: Bozeman, MT
Favorite Montana water: Yellowstone River
Favorite hatch to fish: Grasshoppers
Favorite fly to fish: The Morrish hopper, it still works if you believe
Brock Long
Where he's from: The State of Missouri - Go Cards!
Where he is now: Phillipsburg, MT
Favorite Montana water: Rock Creek, Missouri River, Smith River
Favorite hatch to fish: Skwalas, March Browns, Salmonflies
Favorite fly to fish: A size 14 H&L Variant or a size 12 Orange Ausable Wolf
Where's my guide?
These are our core guides who work for us regularly across the Big Sky state, and your MFO guide might just be an independent contractor (which virtually all licensed Montana fishing guides are), who doesn't work for us quite often enough to make this exclusive list. We have a few of those, so rest assured that all the professional guides who work for us are legit and personally vetted by us as thoroughly as possible. Simply put, we do not hire guides who we wouldn't want to fish with ourselves.