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Lewis & Clark Expeditions (Smith River Float)

Helena, Montana
Smith River Float Trip
Missouri and Blackfoot Rivers Day Trips


Based out of Helena, Montana, Lewis and Clark Expeditions is one of the lucky few outfits allotted permits on the fabled Smith River float trip. In addition to the Smith, their team of experienced and enthusiastic guides also are experts on Norman Maclean’s Blackfoot and the Missouri. Helena, the capital of Montana, is the launching point for all Louis and Clark adventures. Mike Geary, owner of Lewis and Clark Expeditions is perhaps one of the most eccentric and entertaining characters in the fly fishing industry. He is also an amazing angler, host, and professional. If you are an adventurous angler who likes to fish hard and see miles and miles of wonderfully beautiful country, then look no further than one of the myriad of options available with Lewis and Clark.


The Smith River Float Trip:
The Smith River is located approximately fifty miles to the east of the state capital of Helena and flows between the Big Belt and Little Belt mountain ranges of Southwestern Montana. The Smith offers the best combination of floating, fishing and camping in the lower United States. Heavily regulated, the Smith float is an extremely exclusive fishery. A very small and select handful of licensed guides are allowed to float the Smith in its entirety. There are only two public boat launch sites on the entire length of the river. Furthermore, the state of Montana limits the number of people on the river through a stringent permit system. This insures two things, solitude and unpressured fishing. Lewis and Clark Expeditions is blessed to have access to perhaps the most beautiful and remote fishery in the lower forty-eight.

The five-day Smith River float trip takes anglers through sixty miles of free flowing water, isolated canyon walls and a disgusting number of eager trout. The dramatic granite walls, seas of wildflowers, and lush green meadows line the Smith valley providing one of the prettiest and undisturbed venues in the state of Montana. Brown and rainbow trout make up the majority of the fish population on the Smith. While not known for trophy fish, the Smith does give up an occasional monster in the 22-25 inch range. The average size of these wild, rambunctious, hard fighting trout is in the 12-17 inch range.

The Smith River is extremely user friendly. This is one of the reasons we habitually recommend the Smith to beginners in search of an intensive adventure with friends or family who want to learn the art of fly fishing on a faster learning curve. You do not have to be an expert of any kind to have amazing success, and the expert technical anglers will love finding new ways to tag fish after fish. Anglers spend most of the day fishing from the boat and casting into various types of water not accessible from the riverbank. Oftentimes boats will stop in certain areas conducive to wade fishing. Fishing tactics on the Smith vary with conditions. The rivers fish always react to large attractor style dry flies, especially early in the season when the stoneflies are on the water. Good hatches of mayflies and caddis keep the trout looking up after the stonefly hatch is done. Dragging a nymph or a streamer through the many pockets and runs is perhaps the deadliest technique on the Smith. When it “is on”, you may almost fish any way you want to and catch fish.

Missouri and Blackfoot:
Big fish, lots of fish, and big water! Lewis and Clark Expeditions also books day trips out of Helena for those who are a little less adventurous than the Smith River angler but want to experience two of the West's most fabled fisheries. The forty miles of the Missouri River below Holter Dam constitutes one of the finest tailwater fisheries in the country. This stretch is enormously rich in insect life boasting dense hatches of trico, caddis, blue-winged olives and pale morning duns. This abundance of trout food accounts for the impressive size of rainbows and browns which call the Missouri home. The Missouri River angler can be assured of fine nymph fishing along with streamer fishing. It is the exceptional quality of the dry fly fishing that sets the Missouri apart. Pods of hundred trout sipping mayflies in the morning still are not an unusual sight on this great tailwater. Lewis and Clark guides know this river intimately. According to owner Mike Geary, "the Missouri is 'our home water', and we take pride in knowing where the best fish lie and knowing what the best techniques and flies are to take these fish." With Lewis and Clark you will fish the Missouri from comfortable drift boats with informed, affable guides.

With the Blackfoot on the comeback, more and more gossip is coming out of Helena about the quality of the rainbow, brown, cutthroat, and bull trout fishing reminiscent of 'A River Runs Through It' days. It is hard to imagine a more historic and gorgeous wading experience; a perfect compliment to a few days on the larger Missouri.


Smith River Float Trip:
The primary goals of Lewis and Clark Expeditions are providing the finest in staff, equipment and cuisine. Guides, cargo crew, and kitchen staff all work diligently on your behalf providing a safe, comfortable and clean camp. On each trip you will be well served with years of river experience both guiding and camping.

A seven-man crew guides each trip. There are five fishing guides and two barge drivers who carry the entire camp and gear with them. Guests have no responsibility other than fishing. A typical day involves awaking around 7:00AM, having breakfast, and wade fishing the waters around camp. Meanwhile, the guides are packing up camp and the day's float begins. Upon the conclusion of the day's float, the fishing boats arrive at an already setup camp with sleeping bags unrolled, and dinner almost completed.

On every Smith River trip Lewis and Clark provides guides, self bailing rafts, flies, leaders, cots, tents, thermo-rest pads, showers, fine wine, beer, great coffee, bottled water, sodas. The cooks take particular pride in their cuisine hoping to both surprise and delight the palate. Meals are very professionally prepared with full table settings in scenic areas and campfires are started every evening. The guides at Lewis and Clark Expeditions are handpicked and in class all their own. They are to a person, valiant, generous, courteous, polite, bold, gentle and patient.

Helena Area Bed and Breakfasts:
For guests booking daily guided trips with Lewis and Clark as well as the overnights preceding and following the Smith floats, owner Mike Geary has successfully recommended a handful of the Helena areas most comfortable and economical B&Bs and hotels. Feel free to book accommodations wherever you please, however know that we recommend the following accommodation:

Sanders House Bed and Breakfast (Smith and Missouri Rivers)
A great option while staying in town. The most elegant place to stay in town with the best breakfast, the most congenial staff anywhere and the best bargain for your dollar. The rooms are immaculate and you can capture some of the history of the west before it was taken over by paper pushers. From the Sanders, anglers are 30 minutes from the Missouri River and a little over and hour to the Smith River launch.
http://www.sandersbb.com/

Whitetail Ranch (Blackfoot River)
The Blackfoot offers us the opportunity to stay at the Whitetail Ranch with upscale cabins, good food and the Rocky mountains as your neighbors. For horseback riders, the Whitetail can get you in the saddle and guests are minutes from the North Fork of The Blackfoot and the Big Blackfoot.
http://www.whitetailranch.com/


8 Anglers Per Smith River Float


Delta Airlines serves Helena, Montana several times daily. Guests first fly to Salt Lake City, Utah, then connect to Helena. All travel can be accomplished in one day.


Smith Float Trip

Day 1
Depart hometown for Helena, Montana. Spend the night in Helena in one of our recommended hotels or bed and breakfasts.

Day 2
You are picked up at your Hotel the following morning after breakfast for a ninety-minute drive to the put in, and you are on the water fishing by 9:30AM.

Day 3-6
Four more days fishing on the Smith River. Take out the last afternoon and get transferred ninety minutes back to Helena. Spend the night again in Helena.

Day 7
Take morning flight out of Helena for home city


Fishing is the predominant activity on a Smith River float trip, however these trips are the ultimate getaway for the family or group of mixed angling / non angling parties. Lewis and Clark guides act not only as fishing instructors, but also act as amazing historians, guide hiking excursions, and escort campers to view ancient Crow Indian cave pictographs. The Smith is perhaps the most scenic float in North America, and you do not have to be fishing to enjoy the wilderness and solitude. For this reason we encourage families and friends to invite their non-fishing companions to experience a camping adventure they will never forget.

The city if Helena also offers a myriad of summer outdoor and indoor activities, restaurants, and plenty of sightseeing for non-anglers while a companion is off fishing. White water rafting, horseback riding, mountain biking, hiking, and exploring town are only a few.


PARTICIPATE IN THE THE "WOUNDED WARRIORS" SMITH FLOAT TRIP PROGRAM!
Click here to learn how Mike Geary and Lewis and Clark is helping disabled war veterans enjoy a few days of fishing.
http://www.lcexp.com/dvets.htm


*5 Day / 4 Night Smith River Float Trip……………………………………………$3,600
*Rates are per person based on double occupancy, two anglers per guide

Missouri and Blackfoot Day Trips:
$395 - 1 Angler Per Boat / Guide
$425 - 2 Anglers Per Boat / Guide


Five Days/Four Nights on Smith River; All meals and beverages; Tent camp accommodations including flies & terminal tackle, cots, tents, thermo-rest pads, showers, wine, beer, bottled water, sodas


Airfare to Helena, Montana; Accommodations, Meals, and personal expenses in Helena first and last night of trip; Gratuities; Fishing equipment (rods and reels)


A deposit of 50% is required to confirm a reservation and is due at the time of booking. The balance is due 60 days prior to departure. The deposit will be refunded, less a processing fee of $100/person, if cancellation is made 60 days prior to departure. Thereafter the individual is responsible for the total land cost and no refund will be made unless client replacement is found. No refund can be made for unused land arrangements.

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