Wife and I will be in central/western MT this summer vacationing. I've been to MT maybe a dozen or so times to hunt and wife is finally wanting to take a trip. Was looking to hire a float fishing outfitter as a way of seeing scenery changes as much as to catch fish. Can be anywhere say west of Livingston all the way to ID. I have some leads on outfitters but they are mostly because I got on someone's mailing list. Would appreciate any suggestions on outfitters or preferred river. We have no fly fishing experience.

Thanks

Float fishing can be done and be just as fun using spinning tackle. Trying to learn to fly cast on a float trip can be difficult as casting to likely looking areas precisely and repeatedly while on the move can be trying to say the least. Just talk to the prospective outfitter/guide and ask for recommended tackle, lures, sizes and colors and bring a reasonable supply of lures. Spinners like Panther Martins, Vibrax, and Mepps and small spoons such as Kastmaster, Lil Cleo, and DareDevil work well. Almost forgot, lures such as Rapala, Rebel and Flatfish can also work quite well. If you plan on fishing lakes then using spinning tackle with the fly and a bubble technique with flies such as soft hackles, Renegades, Woolyworms, Woolybuggers, and Pistol Petes can be very effective.

I am a fishing outfitter located in Livingston and have great guides for the Yellowstone/Madison. Also have great connections throughout the state and can give some advice about who to call in other areas. Shoot me an email or PM!

The Yellowstone valley south of Livingston is AWESOME for fishing and scenery !!!

I'll echo what Prwlr said about the challenges of fly fishing from a driftboat for a beginner so don't hesitate to bring a spinning rod. If you want to learn how to fly fish, check out the fly fishing school put on by Madison River Fishing Company (MRFC.com) in Ennis, MT. I took this class in 2008 to improve my skills and it was great. A rafting trip on any of Montana's big scenic rivers (e.g. Blackfoot/ Clarks Fork/ Jefferson in the Missoula area) is a good option, or taking a boat/ canoe and fishing the Hebgen/ Quake lakes in a beautiful area south of Ennis is another option.