Let’s allow our trail savvy horses and mules do the heavy lifting to get us to some often overlooked spots in the Swan Valley. They’ll enjoy a nice rest while you cast. This is a great option for folks who love trail riding and fishing but are operating on a tighter vacation budget or timeline. A fish and ride day trip offers the best of both worlds!
Fish & Ride Day Trip Combination
Swan Mountain Outfitters offers two daily destinations for our fishing/trail ride excursions; Hall and Bond Lakes.
The day begins by meeting your guide and your trusty steed. We’ll gather up our gear and hit the trail to ride to our fishing destination. Once you arrive, you have your choice to fish the shore, tributary streams or darn a pair of waders and venture out into the mountain lake in a float tube that we will pack in with a mule. We’ll pack a hearty lunch and refreshments to fuel you through a full day of both fishing and riding.
This excursion also includes fishing lessons and fish cleaning/packaging by your guide, if desired. All you have to do is relax fish and enjoy an epic Montana day in the pristine solitude of the Swan Valley!
Overnight Fishing and Horseback Trail Riding Combinations
A sampler of our favorites: fishing, camping, and horseback riding. The perfect combination that works with tighter budgets and busy vacation itineraries.
For those guests that don’t have the time to join us for a multi-day fishing pack trip in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, we are pleased to offer overnight trips that afford anglers the opportunity to get some camping and fishing in while they are visiting northwest Montana.
The package includes lunch and dinner the first day, and breakfast and lunch the second day. We will provide tents, camping and fishing gear and all the horses needed for your party. Meals are hearty mountain fare. Your guides will handle all the details of packing and setting up camp, saddling up horses, and walking you through the basics of horsemanship. They’ll even give you fishing instruction and clean your fish for you! All you need to bring is your clothes, sleeping bag and fishing license, we’ll take care of the rest.
Oh by the way, how about we fry up a couple of those fresh trout you will catch?
Our Back country Camp
Access more remote waters by riding into the back country! Our mules will pack in the gear, staff will take care of the cooking and camp details, and guides will show you the most scenic fishing spots. All you have to do is enjoy the ride and casting in the peaceful wilderness.
We operate our guided fishing pack trips in the Bob Marshall out of our wilderness upper camp, it’s about 14 miles ride from the nearest road. This camp sits on the edge of the Bob Marshall Wilderness and features wall tents with wood stoves. The strategic location of our camp allows us to venture out in a different direction each day to enjoy Montana fishing at its best.
After a full day of fishing, guests return to the same location each evening. The advantages of this type of non-roving base camp include: hot meals waiting for you, dry and warm accommodations and a good night’s sleep after a full day of activity. The fact that we don’t have to break down camp each day and move allows our guests to spend more time vacationing during their Montana fishing pack trip and less time packing and unpack their duffel.
Logistically, a multi-day fishing trip is based on our regular pack trip itinerary. Be sure to read more about what to expect on the ride, and in camp, in our pack trips section of this site. The difference here is that we’ll be sure to pack in all our fishing gear and really focus on finding fish!
It takes a full day of riding to get to our upper camp and to get back. So, in a typical 5-day fishing pack trip in the high alpine lakes in Bob Marshall, anglers can expect to get in 3 full days of fishing.
We also have the flexibility to customize our Montana guided fishing trips by allowing guests to stay for longer periods, or combine one of our Swan River fishing float trips with their back-country fishing pack trip to get the best full fishing experience. So, be sure to check out the rates, dates, availability, and ask about customizing too.
Photos from the River
