Life in Montana is centered around being alongside and floating down our magnificent rivers. What better way to spend a summer afternoon than being on the water, drifting by some of the most beautiful scenery in the world? If you fly fish you know how indispensable drift boats and rafts are when fishing our big rivers. If you fly fish you really should know how to row. Even if you do not own or plan on getting a boat anytime soon. Why, because your buddies who do own a boat would much rather take friends that can row on float trips. There is a saying that goes like this:
" If You Can't Row You Can't Go."

Rowing a drift boat or raft is not difficult. However, there are major safety issues to be aware of as well as the subtle nuances that separates rowing to go on a boat ride and rowing so someone can fly fish.  Whether you want to learn to row so you can just take a leisurely ride down the river or you want to impress your boat owner friends and get invited on more floats we are here to teach you.

More importantly than the mechanics of rowing we will teach you the all important aspects of safety. You will learn how to read the water, avoid obstacles, how currents affect the boat and how to "stay ahead of the boat". River etiquette is also a very important component to being on our rivers. Most of river etiquette is common sense, but then again, we see bad river etiquette so often that we strongly feel it needs to be taught. Related to river etiquette is ramp etiquette. The ramps are not a place to take your time!

If you are thinking about buying a boat or raft, or if you have one and just want to get your rowing skills to the next level we are here to help . If you want to get to go along on more float trips (Like the Smith) learning to row well will get you more offers. If you want to learn to read the water and become a safer, more confident rower we can help.

Why learn to row with us? We are professional fly fishing guides with years of experience on the rivers of Montana. As fly fishing guides we are experienced teachers, know our rivers very well, are fully insured, first aid certified and we love to be out on the water!

Call 406 223-1506 to schedule your rowing lessons. You can also reach us by email with the link below.

We offer both half day and full day lessons. You can come by yourself or bring a friend. Due to the set up of drift boats we can only take two students at a time. Just to be clear, we will not double up and stick another student in the boat with you. If you want to bring a friend that is great. That way you can share in the learning, then share the rowing.

Half day. About four hours on the river and one hour on land. Half day floats include snacks and non-alcoholic drinks.
Full day. This will be about a ten mile float which means around seven to eight hours on the river and an hour on land. Full day lessons include lunch and non-alcoholic drinks.

One student   $200.00

Two students  $250.00

One student    $325.00

Two students   $400.00

Getting ready for a Smith River float. This really is one trip where "If you can't row you can't go" applies. This is a sixty mile, four or five day trip. With all the gear there almost always are just two people per boat or raft. That means if you can't row your buddy gets to row the entire trip! Seriously, would you expect to have your friend do all that rowing for you?

Being known as a safe, confident rower will definitely give you a much better chance of being invited on floats like this .

Dogs and boats just go together!!!
Boats take you to beautiful places that you can not get to on foot.
Just one of my all time favorite fishing pictures.
Call 406 223-1506 or email us and we will answer any questions and schedule your rowing lesson.

Rowing and floating is not just for fishing! Even those of us who love to fly fish enjoy a relaxing scenic float down our rivers once in a while. There really is nothing like sitting back and just taking it all in as your raft or boat glides down the river.

Technically just getting a boat down the river is not difficult or hard work. However, there are still many safety concerns that if not heeded can turn a fun day on the river into a disaster. Every year we hear about or witness some simple act that ends up with a sunk boat, lost gear... or worse.

Learning some basic rules of the river can help you avoid these mistakes. Come learn the easy way with us instead of the hard way on the river by yourself.

The photo on the right was taken just after the kayaker made a very basic mistake and DID SINK HIS BORROWED KAYAK. Fortunately he was ok and we recovered some of his gear. This was early fall and the afternoon was cooling quickly. Being all alone on the river, soaking wet with a sunken boat is no fun. By the time we got the kayaker into a dry fleece he was shivering. Hypothermia was a very real possibility.