The LFFE Blog

Filter By Program

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Greetings again from Canyon Campground on the rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone! Today we wrapped up our last portion of the trip in the Yellowstone front country after a few days of fishing the Snake River, the Upper Yellowstone, Slough Creek, and several smaller creeks around the park. The boys have been having a blast, catching fish, and getting along well. Over the next few days, we...

Colorado Adventure Final Update

Hello all, The Colorado Rocky Mountain adventure has had a fantastic last few days and is coming to a bittersweet end. The last time you heard from us, we had just exited the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National park. The following day we slept in before eating a big breakfast and packing gear. By late morning we had the van loaded up and were on our way to the Colorado river. As you might...

Montana Road Trip Adventure Update

Hello again from the Montana Roadtrip Adventure! We Have been having a ball running around Montana. Last you heard from us we were on the Bighorn River and planning to head back west the next day. But with the fishing as good as it was, leaving was a tough sell for the kids. As the saying goes, never leave fish to find fish. So after a group vote, we extended our stay on the Bighonr one more day...

Colorado Adventure Update

Hello all, The 2022 Colorado Rocky Mountain adventure just exited a successful backcountry! The last time you heard from us, we had just arrived at our front country campsite outside the park and were preparing to enter the backcountry after a bit of fly fishing instruction. The following day we got to fishing the headwaters of the Colorado river. Nearly every kid caught fish that first day and...

Yellowstone Adventure II Update

Hello from Bridge Bay campground in the heart of Yellowstone National Park! This morning we exited our three-day, two-night backcountry trip between Grebe Lake and Cascade Lake, both of which held massive native cutthroat and arctic grayling. We hiked our four miles out, hopped back in the van, and drove to West Yellowstone just outside the park to grab some much-needed showers and do some laundry...

Montana Road Trip Adventure Update II

Greetings from the Montana Road Trip Adventure! We have had a great start to the trip. After gathering everybody at the airport, we headed down to HQ in Ennis, where we started the trip off strong with some pizza, rigging, and knot tying lessons in preparation for the next week. The following day we woke up bright and early to fish the famous upper Madison River. While the fishing was a bit slower...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Expedition Update

Hello all, The 2022 Colorado Rocky Mountain expedition just finished off a strong trip! The last time you heard from us, we had just exited our second backcountry and were getting cleaned up in preparation for our final segment fishing the Colorado river. That night we received some news that water temperatures were getting dangerously high on the Colorado and an all-day fishing closure had been...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Hello again from the Yellowstone Expedition! We've had an action-packed week in the park filled with incredible fishing and great scenery. Our journey back into Yellowstone started once we left HQ in Ennis. We headed directly to Bridge Bay on Yellowstone Lake, where the group quickly set up camp, ate an early dinner, and prepared for the next day of fishing. The next morning, we woke up bright and...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Hello to all, It didn’t take us long to want to head back into the park after our laundry and shower day. We camped right on the outside boundary of the park along the Madison River. We got the opportunity to fish some smaller pocket water for hungry brown and cutthroat trout on the Gallatin and smaller creeks nearby. With larger rivers making up the majority of our fishing time on the trip thus...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Hello from the Bozeman Hot Springs! Tonight we wrap up our wonderful trip with some great BBQ, showers, and some time in the natural hot spring pools here in Bozeman. The past few days have offered a great conclusion to what has been a truly unforgettable trip, as we left Yellowstone about 36 hours ago and have enjoyed fishing around Ennis, MT on some of its world-famous rivers, including the...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Expedition Update

Hello All, The 2022 Colorado Rocky Mountain expedition just finished up an awesome second backcountry trip into the wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park! The last time you heard from us we had just finished up our first backcountry and were getting cleaned up and resupplied in preparation for our second backcountry. The following day we woke up early, packed up camp, and drove to our...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Greetings again from Bridge Bay! Today we wrapped up our last portion of the trip in the Yellowstone front country after a few days of fishing the Snake River, the Upper Yellowstone, and several smaller creeks around the park. The boys have been having a blast, catching fish, and getting along really well. We are all extremely excited about our upcoming backcountry trip tomorrow into Slough Creek...

Montana Road Trip Expedition Update

Hello again from the Montana Road Trip. It is hard to believe how fast this trip has gone by. After a great few days of fishing on the Madison River, we packed up camp and headed to a smaller and less pressured stream outside of Ennis. Our first day on the Ruby involved us splitting into two groups to fish in two different sections of the river. The group that chose to go upstream ended up doing...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Hello to all, Last time you heard from us we were heading into the Snake River backcountry with hopes of seeing some beautiful scenery and catching big fish and did we ever fulfill those goals. After a solid hike on the trail with some snow-capped peaks to keep us company, the boys didn’t take long to land some beautiful snake river cutthroat trout. Our campsite overlooking the river made fishing...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Hello again from the Yellowstone Expedition! We are currently writing you from the scenic Lillard base camp in Ennis, Montana. This past week has been packed with adventure and there is a lot to report. When we last checked in, the group was gearing up for our first backcountry into the Idaho portion of Yellowstone. We spent the night before our hike near our trailhead on the Falls River. We...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Expedition Update

Hello all, The 2022 Colorado Rocky Mountain expedition just finished up a successful first trip into the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park! The last time you all heard from us we had just set up our front country camp outside the national park and were doing some fly fishing instruction and preparing gear for the backcountry. The following morning we woke with the sun, packed up our camp...

Montana Road Trip Expedition Update II

Greetings from Ennis Montana and the Montana Road Trip Expedition, We’ve had an amazing few days fishing on the mighty Madison River from our base camp in Ennis, MT! Ennis is surrounded by three beautiful mountain ranges: the Madison Range, the Gravelly Range, and the Tobacco Root Mountains. In addition to its majestic mountain view, Ennis also offers access to some of the best fly fishing in the...

Yellowstone Adventure Update II

Hello from Bridge Bay campground in the heart of Yellowstone National Park! This morning we exited our three-day backcountry trip into a unique part of Yellowstone. Our hike brought us to two different drainages. One full of native Yellowstone Cutthroat and the other full of native Westslope Cutthroat and Arctic Grayling. We made the 4-mile hike out this morning, hopped back in the van, and drove...

Montana Road Trip Expedition I Update IV

Hello all, It is hard to believe our Montana Road Trip Expedition is coming to an end, but it isn't over yet. Yesterday, the kids completed their service project where they picked up garbage at a handful of boat ramps and campsites. It was great to have the chance to give back to the amazing public access that makes Montana trout fishing so special. After a game of kickball and early dinner, we...

Thorofare Expedition Update

We're back! After seven days, the Thorofare Expedition has made it out of the backcountry! The group caught around 150 fish and hiked over 50 miles! We are pretty tired and sore, but our memories of this fantastic backcountry still have us all smiling and laughing. Almost all of the campers caught their largest Cutthroat trout, and some even landed their largest trout on this trip. The night...

Montana Road Trip Expedition I Update III

Hello from atop the Ruby Reservoir located in southwestern Montana. We arrived at our new campsite yesterday morning after much success on the Madison River, where all the kids enjoyed pulling out a sufficient number of both Rainbow and Brown Trout, as well as the occasional Whitefish. When we got word that the water clarity in the Ruby River had improved significantly and flows had decreased, we...

Mass Bass Adventure 22 Update II

It's hard to believe that we are nearing our halfway point in our journey across the beautiful state of Massachusetts! We spent the start of our trip in CT just south of the MA border at Housatonic Meadows campground. The Housatonic is a unique fishery in that it flips between a warm and cold water fishery multiple times, with the section by our campground being a trout management area despite...

Maine Expedition Update III

Hello from the Housatonic Meadows Campground! After an amazing eight days here in Maine, we said goodbye in search of some pike. Leaving behind the pristine rivers and lakes of Maine is tough, but everyone is eager to get out on the water in Massachusetts and chase some massive pike. Over the past few days, we have seen a lot of excitement. It all kicked off with our backcountry journey into...

Berkshire to Beaches 22 Update IV

Final Trip update Berkshires to Beaches Hello all, The 2022 Berkshires to beaches just finished up an amazing few days camped on Cape Cod fishing the flats for striped bass! We arrived Friday afternoon after a drive in from the Berkshires. After our cook crew fixed us a meal, the kids got to tying their own flies around the campfire in preparation for the next few days. The following morning we...

Montana Road Trip Expedition I Update I

Greetings from the beautiful state of Montana where we now reminisce on all the fish caught today, as well as the many more that got away, while enjoying the views around our campsite, and the long hours of sunlight. After gathering all the kids from the Bozeman Airport we settled down at our first campsite in Ennis, Montana. There, the kids have enjoyed tying flies, playing spike ball, and...

Berkshire to Beaches Expedition Update III

Hello all, The 2022 Berkshires to Beaches expedition just finished up an exciting few days camped on the Housatonic River! The last time you heard from us we were on our way south coming from the Deerfield River. The first afternoon we arrived at our campground, which had beautiful waterfront views and the kids got to work setting up camp. After we ate a quick dinner, the kids decided to throw a...

Ascension Bay Expedition 22 Update 1

Buenas Dias from Punta Allen in the Sian Ka'an Biosphere where our Ascension Bay Expedition is in full swing. After arriving in Cancun, we made the 4-hour drive (most of which is on dirt roads) down to Punta Allen and settled into our home for 7 nights, Ascension Bay Lodge. We woke up the next morning to high winds and scattered, but heavy rain. With six full days in Punta Allen, and 4 days...

Maine Expedition Update II

Hello from Rangely Lakes State Park in the beautiful mountains of Maine! This morning we gathered our things and departed from the Lakewood Camps before driving roughly an hour to our current campsite. We now sit around a fire, enjoying sausages and peppers while the boys laugh and play with our new glow-in-the-dark frisbee. The past few days since the start of our trip have been a blast. After...

Berkshire to Beaches 22 2nd Update

Hello all, The 2022 Berkshires to Beaches Expedition just finished up a fun few days fishing on the Deerfield River in the Berkshires. The last time you heard from us we had just finished setting up camp on the Deerfield. The following morning, we got to fishing. On our first morning at camp, we started off with some delicious and filling breakfast burritos prepared by our kid-run cook crew before...

Inaugural Winter Break Redfish Expedition

On December 26th, 7 anglers and I met up at the New Orleans airport to kick off our inaugural Winter Break Redfish Expedition. With all the crazy cancelations plaguing airlines, it is somewhat miraculous we all made it without much delay. It was after dark when we left the airport, and the lights of civilization faded quickly as we drove south to our basecamp in the heart of Bull Red country for 3...

Ready to Enroll?

Click "Enroll Now" or give us a call to get started. You can also send us an email at [email protected].

If you have any questions you can Request Information and we will contact you soon with answers.

Lillard Fly Fishing Expeditions was started in 2010 as a graduate thesis for my Master's Degree in Environmental Conservation Education at NYU. The operating premise was simple - by coupling amazing wilderness fly fishing camps for teens with environmental education and service learning we can help inspire future generations of fly fishing conservationists. We have been growing our unique list of trips and experiences ever since.

When it comes to choosing a summer program for your teen the options are endless. For the teen who loves to fish, be outside, and has a strong sense of adventure we have made the choice easy. We are the leader in teen fly fishing adventures and are dedicated to providing the best backcountry fly fishing experience with opportunities for teens to engage in leadership training, community service, and backcountry camping.

Sincerely,

Will Lillard signature

Will Lillard, Founder/Director/Guide

Contact Us

[email protected]

Lillard Fly Fishing Expeditions
2540 King Road
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768

(828) 577-8204