Group of friends and I will be in Montana week before 4th of July. We are staying along the Swan River, other side of the mountains from Flathead Lake. Does anyone have any experience with any guides in the area? Have some friends that want to try fly fishing and would love to find a good one in the area.

Thanks.

There was a guide/fly shop in Kalispell that was recommended to us when we were there a few years ago. I'll try to dig up more info. We didn't get to fish with the guys there because the rivers were still in flood stage but they do regular trips to the Kootenai and some other hot spots. I don't know what it's looking like up there this spring but, surprisingly, we were there in early July and most of Glacier NP was still closed because of the snow. Even had to drive quite a bit when we were down in the southern part of the state to find water that wasn't too rough and muddy due to melt. "Winter stays long up that high..."

Mystique Fly Shop - 844/359-7467

Again, didn't fish with any of their guides but they were recommended to us by the locals. Went by the shop and hung out for a little bit. Real nice guy was running the place.

Another option is to go for lake trout on Flathead Lake. It's not nearly as much fun IMHO but it's still fishing and lake trout are pretty good to eat.

I guided up there for a few years about 10 years ago and I still go up there yearly. I would recommend either Matt DiPaulo or Andy Guy- both good guys and good fishermen.

If you want to get serious, make it over to the South fork of the flathead in the bob Marshall. The upper swan can have some good, unique fishing and is a very wild river- lots of log jams, deep holes, etc.

Matt DiPaulo works at crane mountain guide service
http://cranemountainguide.com

Andy guy is at Bigfork Anglers

Be sure and it up the Garden Bar in Bigfork after your trip!

Thanks guys for all the help!

What are some of the better places to fish in Montana?