Testimonials

Did you have a good trip with us, receive good advice in the shop, or particularly enjoy one of Richard's books or Walter's magazine articles? If so, we'd like to hear from you.

Note: the following testimonials may have been edited for grammar, spelling, and content. Their contexts have not been changed, however. We are not politicians.

Richard:

I just wanted to say thanks for the service, hospitality, and help while we were in the area last week, on behalf of my brother, father, and myself. I surely won't hesitate to recommend your services to others, and will be sure to let you know when I'm out there again for another trip or two. We enjoyed ourselves, learned a good bit, and were able to keep after the trout with a little help from the shop on several occasions. Our afternoon on the Yellowstone was memorable, and with your advice we were able to find more nice fish. Even managed several over 20" and a beautiful 26" cutt from the Snake later in the week.

Thanks again and best of luck to you in the future,

Joshua Turner

Thanks for a great trip! We really appreciated your willingness to adapt to different situations and the weather and get us to the best fishing that day. After we left the shop we fished the Yellowstone where you suggested below the Tower Falls. Rather than fish downstream into your "honey holes" we fished upstream and caught fish using streamers in the deeper water, nymphing in the deeper riffles, and we even stumbled upon a great BWO hatch and got to fish dries! We also spotted a relatively newly killed elk and a fresh grizzly print. beautiful healthy cutts everywhere. The next day we fished the Madison at 9, 10, 11 mile hole and picked up a few native browns but no migrators and then moved to the Firehole for the afternoon and fished a wonderful caddis hatch. There were a surprisingly large number of people fishing there but we walked a bit and got away.

Thanks for all your advice and teaching. Attached are a few photos. How did yours come out? How is your knee? Did you get back to that hole on the Gardner? Can't wait to get back there to fish again!

I'm writing to thank you again for guiding us a few weeks ago. We were honored that you were able to share your river with us. I can't remember how many fish I caught--I don't think I've ever caught that many fish in one outing before. Equally impressive was your willingness to share with us your encyclopedic knowledge of river ecology, geology, and tips for later in our trip.

I think you were an instrumental part of fanning the flames of interest
in trout fishing with my 12 year old daughter. Elizabeth wears her "Here Fishy Fishy" t-shirt proudly and often and loves to tell people about Richard and "righteous casts". It really takes a special kind of guide to take out a novice 12 year old on a float trip, and you've created a fond lifetime memory for both her and I.

That float trip was one of the best investments I've made in several years. I hope we can fish with you again soon. Enclosed are some pictures.

Jeff Charlson
Madison, WI

Hey Richard,

Good morning! Thanks for a great trip. Edna and I consider that the highlight of our trip to Yellowstone. I hope we get a chance to go again. The scenery was beautiful and we learned a lot also.

All the best,

Chuck Albrecht

[Extracted from a fishing report posted by Bill Hession on the Flyfisherman bulletin boards]

...Hooked up with Wally [Walter Wiese] aka Longs for Cutts for a day of guided walk and wade fishing out of Parks Fly Shop. Turned out to be right at the top of the list of the many things that turned out great this trip. The day we were scheduled to fish turned out to be the coldest of the week, Wally had some snow driving up from Gardiner. We hooked into some mid sized but beautiful cutts on the Yellowstone at Tower Falls but nothing like Wally was hoping for. The weather stayed cool but teased us with glimmers of possible improvement and he decided our best bet would be to fish the Gardner. So after an excellent lunch we headed out. Wally really knows the Gardner and he was able to get us into some big 15-18 inch runner browns as well as resident rainbows. My brother, a novice, caught some nice fish. In the end, the weather and fishing were in lock step. There were bluebird skies before dusk and the fish really turned on. We really had a remarkable day. I have fished with a lot of guides, some good and some bad. Finding ones who are as pleasant as they are good is not an easy proposition, but Wally's got it down. I felt like I was fishing with one of my buddies back home. After having guides in the past who yelled at us and others seemingly not give a darn, this was fantastic. Obviously, I have not chosen well in the past. Nonetheless, if you want to see what this part of YNP or the upper Yellowstone outside the Park can do, I would recommend hooking up with him through Parks or via [the forums at www.flyfisherman.com] before heading out there. You won't be disappointed.

You won't find fancy displays of flies designed to catch more humans than trout, but you will find Richard Parks, a patient intelligent soul, who has been fishing and guiding since his father moved him to Gardiner, MT in the early fifties. Richard took us from 0 fly fishing knowledge to having a great time wading and catching a few fish in just one day. We only caught one fish when Richard was not standing by us telling us where to place the fly. He had a great store of knowledge that our group of three was only able to use the most basic of.....but he was smart, helpful, patient and concerned that we got from the trip the things that we wanted.
I liked the other guides I met at the store and in fact their courtesy on the phone was why I picked Parks Fly Shop to guide our full day fishing experience. I didnt find out till later that Richard had written the guide book Fishing Yellowstone National Park.

Thanks again Richard
Max Gipson

My uncle and I had such a great experience fishing with you this Sunday. The conditions were perfect, the scenery magnificent and the fishing was outstanding. We look forward to fishing with you again next season.

When you get a chance, would you mind forwarding the picture(s) you took on our trip? Would love to see them!

Living in Bozeman, and having a cabin near Cooke City since the late 1960s, I’ve grown up fishing the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, but Parks' Fly Shop's amazing selection of foam terrestrials has made it virtually a new experience in the last couple of years. I’ve checked out most of the fly shops in Bozeman and Livingston, and none have the selection of unusual styles and colors found at Parks’. The cutthroats can’t resist them.

Thanks to your innovation and helpful suggestions, my son and I have fond memories that will last a lifetime.

Giles and I would like to thank you for the wonderful day that we had fishing with you on the 5th. We were anticipating a good day and you saw to it that it happened. Even though Soda Butte was a bit crowded you made sure that by the end of the day we were into good fishing. We both really enjoyed fishing up "Name Deleted Creek" and I believe by then Giles was getting the hang of it. I appreciate you spending time with him, helping with in whatever way he needed it. I also appreciate your attentiveness and willingness to help me where I needed it. Wish I could have got a picture of the 16" cutthroat but I guess I'll just have to relive it in my mind. I hope that we can fish with you again, your knowledge made fishing the waters in the park a lot less intimidating. We are already starting to plan on a trip next year so hopefully we can get together again.

Contact Information
Phone:	(406) 848-7314
Address:	PO Box 196 202 Second Street South (US-89) Gardiner, MT 59030
E-Mail	Richard Parks, Owner Walter Wiese, Head Guide