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.

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.