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Before coming to work at Orvis, I spent 11 years as a fly-fishing and wingshooting guide for PRO Outfitters in Montana and learned that there’s nothing I love more than helping create powerful experiences for people on the water or in the field.
I saw it countless times, how connecting with the natural world breathes life into you—from following pointing dogs across the tall-grass uplands to wading the Blackfoot for native cutthroat trout. But my most vivid memories of these transformations came on the Smith River, a five-day fly-fishing float down a breathtaking 60-mile canyon-stretch of river.
We would pick our guests up in the early-morning dark and drive 1½ hours to the Smith. Though they’d try to be present, you could hear them frantically tapping on their phones as they juggled last-minute work. But as we made the final descent down the gravel road to the put in, cell service would die, and the tapping stopped. We’d park, get in the rafts, tie on flies, and shove off down river. They would cast, pause and look around, ask questions about the fishery, the native birds on the bank, the geology of the canyon, and cast some more. And then, I’d watch their shoulders relax as they let go into the rhythm of the next few days. Just us and a small group of others in search of trout, amid a journey winding through riverside meals,
long talks in firelight over beers or bourbon, and the steady rush of the river.
At Orvis, we know the strong pull of these life-defining moments, and we want you to find yours in 2024. If you need any help, whether it’s finding the right adventure, the gear to get you out there, or just sharing in the electricity of anticipation leading up to the trip, we’re here for you. Because we know these moments are important—we would say the most important—and our goal is to connect you with those moments of adventure and wonder that energize your soul.
The Great Awaits.
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