Fantastic Montana Fly Fishing Wilderness Adventures. South Fork Flathead River

Home of the native westslope cutthroat trout, the South Fork of the Flathead River is born in the nation’s most beautiful wilderness in Montana, the “Bob Marshall.” Untouched by human development, it is truly nature as God intended it. This is one of the last pure native cutthroat trout fisheries in the world. The westslope cutthroat feed almost entirely on insects and love to rise to dry flies. The crystal clear, icy cold South Fork is also home to the healthiest bull trout population in Montana.

From July through October, our tent camp keeps you within 2 minutes of river and some of the best Montana fly fishing the South Fork of the Flathead River has to offer. Access to the river is unlimited, you can fish for miles or just several hundred yards.

Some of our fly fishing guests never go farther than thirty minutes from camp and catch 20 to 40 plus feisty, thick-bodied 14 to 20 inch cuts daily. Prime time to fish these waters is August through September. One of our fly fishing guests, John P., who had floated the South Fork of the Flathead River three times, said “we floated right past the best fly fishing spots on the South Fork, now I can fish them all the time, and come back to a great meal and a comfortable place to sleep.”

Big Salmon Lake

The lake is so crystal clear that often you can go fishing and see the fish swimming up for a strike. Ride along the lake, where you can look down on a sunny day and see the fish swimming along the shoreline, and the mountains reflecting in the lake. This is a picture you will have in your memories for years to come.

Camp Life

You will stay in our comfortable camp overlooking the South Fork of the Flathead. Sleep in our large and spacious wall tents, with comfortable cots, foam pads, heating stoves, and plenty of room to hang your clothes. Take a hot shower in our shower tent.

Enjoy tasty home-cooked meals, steaks on the grill, turkey dinner with all the trimmings, roasts, full course breakfasts and more, all cooked on a wood stove. Spend the evening sitting around the camp fire enjoying the solitude and camaraderie of camp life in Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness. See more stars than you have ever seen. There’s no “light pollution” here!

Rates

Trips start in July and run every week through September. We offer 5 or 7 day trips, most people prefer the 7 days, as there are a lot of things to see and do!

  • Five-day trips are $1,700.00 per-person
  • Seven-day trips are $2,150.00 per-person
  • We do give large groups of over 8 and family discounts.

    This cost includes, Lodging, Meals, Airport pickup, and packed back into the Bob Marshall Wilderness. We do customized trips upon special request. This is your vacation just ask. Fill out our request form for more details.

    Check out our latest fishing video by Terra F. on You – Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZkeu_YoA_s

A True Montana Wilderness Experience.

Salmon Forks Outfitters
475 Elk Park Road
Columbia Falls,
Montana 59912
Toll Free: (800) 228-7806

*Montana Fishing License

* South Fork Flathead River Info

Fly Fishing Video”

Check out our fishing Video on You- Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubg_FJ_M1Hk
One of our guests, Mike Pryor put together this video of his group fishing the South Fork Flathead with us this past summer.

Kalispell, Montana

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"We had the best fishing and the deepest impressions in your camp." – Julie from Germany

FAQ’s

Here are a number of questions I have answered over the years. I hope you find them helpful.

1. Will there be fishing guides to help the inexperienced angler? No, but I have taken many guys who have never fly fished before and they have caught a lot of fish and had a wonderful time. First, the fish at Salmon Forks don’t see a lot of pressure, because not many people are willing to do what we do to get there. In short, the fish are hungry, aggressive, and not very picky. We use 4 or 5 patterns, but they’ll hit on almost anything. If you have not had a lot of experience, I would suggest you take a quick casting and knot tying workshop before you go. Orvis has a good one.

2. What kind of fishing will we be doing? Most of us use dry flies almost exclusively. Of course if you want to go after the big ones in the bottom of the pools, nymphs and woolly-boogers work well. We will be fishing for wild, west-slope cut-throat trout and bull trout. Most fish range from 10” to 18”. We always catch a few over 20” each year.(Of course, I suspect a lot of those are caught when nobody else is looking.) As I said above, most of us dry-fly fish the whole trip. We practice “catch and release” except for Friday, when we have a delicious fish fry.

3. Will my cell phone work? No. There is no cell phone reception. We discourage bringing satellite phones as it is smacks of civilization, which is what we are trying to get away from.

4. Do I have to worry about bears? There are bears in the “The Bob”. In our part of the park, they are still hunted, so they try to avoid humans. We have had only a few bears come into camp in over 24 years of outfitting. It’s good to know the basics about bear awareness, but we have never had a problem at the Salmon Forks camp site.

5. What if there is an emergency? You should know that there is no communication with the outside world, and the only way out is the same way you came in. (The forest service can land a helicopter in the area, if absolutely necessary, but it will take a few hours to notify them.) Janice is an emergency room nurse. We do have a satellite phone for emergency use.

6. What if I don’t want to fish everyday, all-day? Most of us bring a book or two to read. Mark and Janis will lead horse trips up to Salmon Lake or other areas, if you like. What ever you want to do to relax, you can do it. The first rule is, “there are no rules.”

7. How do I get from the airport in Kalispell to the outfitters? We provide a 15 passenger van. We’ll pick it up at the airport. and take you to the Diamond R Lodge. Saturday afternoon.

8. What is the weather like? The temp ranges from highs of 75-80 and lows in the 40’s. It can, and has gotten into the low 30’s at night. Bring a warm sleeping bag and some rain gear. Mark will send you a packing list.

9. What are the sleeping accommodations? We have two large outfitters tents with cots and foam mattresses for each person, also very nice dome tents Check out our photo page for pictures of the accommodations.