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Walk and Wade Trips

"Rough Trip" by Scotty Chapman.  The painting depicts fall-run brown trout ascending the Gardner River.  Size is a bit overblown, but we routinely get a few 16-20 inchers every trip in the fall.  The original of this painting is on the wall behind our counter.

        Parks' Fly Shop is lucky to be located within an hour or so of the largest collection of public streams and small lakes in the continental United States.  There are over two thousand miles of flowing water inside Yellowstone National Park alone, for example, and there are several excellent streams outside the Park, as well.  While floating the Yellowstone and fishing the private Paradise Valley spring creeks are both treats, for the angler looking for a huge variety of options, there's nothing like a walk and wade trip.  On balance, about 55-60% of the trips we run are walk and wade trips.

        We run most of our walk and wade guide trips inside Yellowstone National Park, with a few creeks in the Gallatin National Forest and a few stretches of the Yellowstone River immediately outside the Yellowstone Park boundary the notable exceptions.  Inside the Park, we fish waters ranging from the brawling Yellowstone inside its Black and Grand Canyons to the flat and tricky Slough Creek.  Some waters are right beside the road, others are five miles into the backcountry in some of the most beautiful, remote country in the Lower 48.  Options are available at almost all points in the season for anglers of any skill level, age, and physical fitness. Possibilities are available for all preferred water types, preferred angling methods (dry fly, wet fly, streamer, or nymph), and preferred species.

        Walk trips are particularly good options for beginner and novice anglers, anyone who'd prefer to spot and stalk their quarry or match hatches, those who'd like to get away from the crowds, avid hikers, anglers interested in learning about a particular stream in detail, people who want to fish small water (sometimes small water with big fish), and anyone who'd like a slower-paced day than is possible when banging the banks from a driftboat roaring down the mighty Yellowstone.  Walk and wade trips also offer more opportunities for personalized instruction, including detailed information on access points and tactics for when you fish the Yellowstone area on your own.  Some clients even bring a clipboard to take notes on the drive.

        For clients who are interested in more than just the fishing, there's plenty of time on walk trips for your guide to teach you about the geography, history, and flora and fauna of the area.  Regarding the fauna, we often see elk, bison, pronghorn, and a variety of smaller animals and birds on our walk trips.  We run into a grizzly or black bear several times a season, and once in a while on evening trips we're serenaded by wolves.

        If you have questions specific to our walk trips, check our Walk Trip FAQ.  If you'd like to discuss planning a walk trip in more detail, give us a call or shoot Richard Parks or Walter Wiese an e-mail.

        For information on walk trips on the private Paradise Valley spring creeks, please click here.

2008 Daily Guide Service Rates