Mid September between Yellowstone NP and Bozeman. Looking for both wading and float guides. Any recommendations?

There are plenty in the Livingston area. There is a Dan Bailey's there. Call them and ask for a recommendation.

Just make sure it's not the Dan Bailey that confronted Tucker Carlson at Dan Bailey's.

Montana Fly Guides out of Bozeman. Fished with them last summer and found Chris to be a good guide. I've also fished with guides from Rivers Edge Fly Shop out of Bozeman and they were good. But I'd go with Chris if he's not booked. I caught this one on the Yellowstone fishing with him last year.
https://instagr.am/p/CSQEiksnRnJ

Dan Bailey's has been around a long time but I think there are better fly shops. Yellowstone Angler is in Livingston, Rivers Edge in Bozeman (I speculate that it might be owned by Simms). If you're staying in Bozeman and like sushi, go to Dave's. My only regret about our recent trip to Montana is that it didn't work out for us to eat there.

Livingston is a cool town, but many more options in Bozeman. That said, if you stay in Livingston and book a Bozeman guide, they'll just tell you to meet them somewhere, probably the Albertsons parking lot or one of the fly shops south of town.

Stay at the Murray Hotel in Livingston. Cool old hotel and has a great bar. A lot of guides hang out there in the evenings. Has a great pizza over too.

Yes, it is a cool place to stay. We've gone to the movie theater down the street a few times and of course Mark's In and Out Burger.

Hate to hijack. But are there any guided fishing options that allow kids to fish w spinning reels while the parent fly fishes ?
We're planning on heading up next summer and want my 6 y/o to get on some fish too. Not sure she would be up for learning fly fishing but could be wrong.

Joe Copeland If you can get him. He is great with everyone and kids. Think he has Facebook
Joe Copeland expeditions.

I'd like to find some resources about introducing kids to fly fishing. I plan to start exploring fishing opportunities in N Georgia, NC and TN and would like to take my granddaughter with us and later on when he's older, our grandson.

I don't have personal knowledge but I've heard from more than one person that Bailey is a colossal prck. The shop has been around forever (maybe it was his dad's originally??) and became the go-to for all the extremely wealthy & famous folks and he's become a giant a-hole to everyone else.

And this is from people who have been fly fishing up there for 35-40 years in a couple instances. They've sailed Bailey wasn't near the same jerk in thr 80's as he is now.

I've never experienced that but I'm just not that impressed with their shop. The attitude you speak of probably comes from them being the only game in town for long.

In Livingston, I like Yellowstone Angler the best. Sweet water is pretty good. In Bozeman, Rivers Edge West is good. My favorite is East Rosebud in Billings. Madison River Fishing Co. in Ennis has good sales - get on their mailing list. Grizzly Hackle in Missoula is good and Headhunters in Craig.

We rented a house about 20 miles South of Livingston near Pray on Mill Creek that flows into the Yellowstone. We have several miles of creek access on the ranch and plan to check that out often, but want book a float trip on the Yellowstone for sure. We will also visit the park at least one day and probably two so we have a fairly large area to consider for guides. Two couples so two boats/guides per day. But I want to wade fish more than drift.

When we've fished in the park, we've focused on the Lamar Valley. Not nearly as crowded and good options.

Given where you're fishing, I'd try to book Craig Boyd. We fished with him a number of years ago with our son and had a great time. He's a really good guide. He works with Anglers West Fly Fishing in Paradise Valley now and should be pretty close to where you're staying. They also guide in YNP.

When we fished with him, he was working with Brian Grossenbacher who we fished with a lot. Brian no longer guides but is an incredible outdoor photographer now. Look at his website to get fired up -you might see several pics of a younger me on there if you look hard - one of them appeared in The Drake. Brian Grossenbacher Photography

I think he had that same sombrero 20 years ago.

Apologies and not meant to derail, but somewhat related. We're planning to take a trip up there next June, somewhere around Bozeman, Livingston, Twin Bridges, etc. Got a quote back from a pretty reputable group for $4200/person for 5 night/4 day all-inclusive package. My first thought was it seemed a bit high, but wanted to see what others thought?

AgFlyGuy said:

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Apologies and not meant to derail, but somewhat related. We're planning to take a trip up there next June, somewhere around Bozeman, Livingston, Twin Bridges, etc. Got a quote back from a pretty reputable group for $4200/person for 5 night/4 day all-inclusive package. My first thought was it seemed a bit high, but wanted to see what others thought?

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Per person or per boat? Most places I've seen give there prices as per boat at double occupancy.

Per person, $8400 for double. All meals, drinks (non-alcoholic), 4 days of guided trips, lodging included.

We've never done the all inclusive deal. We usually stay on the relatively cheap (AirBnbs) and focus our $$$ on the fishing. Lots of such lodging options in Bozeman. In Twin Bridges, Stonefly Outfitters - they have lodging and all inclusive options and are well located to fish several rivers - the Madison, the Ruby, the Big Hole, the Beaverhead and the Jefferson.

We like Dillon - we fished with a guide named Todd Throckmorton out of Frontier Anglers and were very pleased with him. They have some combo lodging and fishing packages but again, those seem pretty pricey.

When we've fished the Yellowstone near Livingston, we've typically stayed in Bozeman although we've stayed at the Murray Hotel as well.

I had a great float trip fly experience with Blue Ribbon Flies out of West Yellowstone.

Never fished with them but I like their shop. I've always wanted to do the pack trip to the third meadow of Slough Creek with them.

Thx, yea Stonefly is who I contacted. They're actually selling the lodge and going to operate out of their Inn in town next to the fly shop.

We stopped in at the fly shop a few weeks ago but hadn't heard that they were selling the lodge. Rooster Leavens, the owner, has had some pretty significant health issues over the past year so that may be part of the reason for downsizing. We stayed at the Inn a couple of years ago and while it's nothing fancy, it's clean and fine with us. And it's nice being right by the shop. Twin Bridges is a pretty cool town several dining options and not far from Dillon if you want to drive there for dinner.