The LFFE Blog

Yellowstone Expedition II Bechler Update

The Yellowstone Expedition is back in Jackson WY! The last few days have flown by, and we have three full days of activities planned before our final banquet dinner. Ready to hit the trail into the Bechler River." /> Four days ago we exited Yellowstone via the West Yellowstone gate, only to re-enter via the Bechler Ranger Station. The Bechler River lies in the south west corner of the park, known...

Sough Creek Update

Hello from Grant Village Campsite, Our group came out of the backcountry yesterday, and the fishing in Slough Creek could not have been better. Each one of our experienced anglers caught trophy size Cutthroat trout, which will undoubtedly provide many stories and memories for years to come. The fishing got better as we got to more remote areas, as both of our backcountry groups went at least seven...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

The final countdown is on for the Yellowstone Adventure group. It has been a busy few days! Today the group is out float fishing the Snake River with some of the top guides in the country from WorldCast Anglers. It is sure to be the perfect end to 14 days of fishing. After exiting the Slough Creek Backcountry we spent one last night in the Lamar Valley. Some fresh brook and rainbow trout we caught...

Saguache backcountry

Coming out of the backcountry is always bittersweet. It means we get to shower, do laundry, not drink iodine water, eat better food… but we leave behind the amazing vistas, incredible fishing, and peaceful solitude of the wilderness. Needless to say we had an absolutely awesome time on our first backcountry excursion. We left the Gunnison/Crested Butte area on Saturday to reach our remote “frontco...

Front country fishing

After our heroic return from the backcountry, we have continued to slay trout. We spent the last few nights at the Mammoth Campground fishing a few different rivers. The Gardiner River runs very close to Mammoth Campground and we have been very successful in the evenings matching hatches and pulling out big fish. The first morning back from the backcountry, we spent relaxing around the campsite...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

It is hard for us to believe, but the Yellowstone Adventure is wrapping up our time in the Park. The past few days have been action packed, and absolutely flew by. We started our final backcountry of the trip by dividing our group into two groups. The first group set out for the upper Lamar Valley to camp along the confluence of Cache Creek and the Lamar River. Our goal was high numbers of 10-14...

Slough Creek Backcountry

Greetings from back in the front country of Yellowstone National Park. The last for days have been full of adventure and excitement. The group split into two groups with each group spending two nights in the Slough Creek backcountry while the other group stayed and fished from the Slough Creek front country. The first group hiked the 5 miles to the second meadow of the world famous fishery on 7/18...

Pebble Creek Update

Hello from Pebble Creek Campground! The Gardner River did not disappoint. Our skilled anglers pulled out a beautiful variety of fish, many of trophy qualities. The Gardner River is one of the most special rivers in Yellowstone, as it winds through a red rock canyon while holding Rainbows, Browns, Cutthroats, and Whitefish. Our next day in Mammoth was a bit of a reorganization day, as we did some...

Grebe Lake Back country- Yellowstone Adventure

Greetings from Mammoth Hot Springs, Yesterday afternoon our group exited our first backcountry of the trip. For two nights we camped out on the banks of Greebe Lake. Greebe Lake marks the start of the Gibbon River which eventually joins the Firehole River to form the Madison. What makes Greebe so special is the healthy population of Arctic Grayling which call it home. Greebe, Ice, and Wolf lakes...

Lamar Valley Update Yellowstone Expedition Group A

Greetings from the Lamar Valley, Our trip is off to a fantastic start. After arrival day we headed into Yellowstone National Park to get the fishing started. A quick hike from our campsite brought us to the Lewis and Snake Rivers. It was a successful first afternoon on the water as almost everyone in the group caught a fish, but we knew the best fishing of the trip was still to come. Yesterday our...

Yellowstone Advanced Expedition Group 1 update

Howdy from Mammoth Campground! Heavy rain in Idaho while we were in Jackson put the Bechler back over its banks. With a quick audible, we headed into the southeast entrance of the park to find some better conditions. Luckily, most of the rivers in the park are in prime shape. On Sunday we headed to the Lewis Lake campground and took a beautiful hike to the Lewis Channel. The wavy meadow grasses...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Update- Lost Lake

The last 5 days have been nothing short of amazing. After exiting the north inlet backcountry we completed a day of service working with the trails crew in Rocky Mountain National Park. Our service project consisted of repairing a section of trail near the scenic Bierstadt Lake. We were tearing up old trail to significantly improve drainage through the trail section in order to prevent unwanted...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Expedition Backcountry Update

The trek into the high country." /> Today we hiked out of the North Inlet backcountry near Grand Lake Colorado, and oh boy what a four days we had in the woods! On Friday we started our hike with unusually hot weather for the mountains, but the heat quickly subsided and gave way to the typical afternoon thunderstorms common in Colorado. We tried waiting out the rain, but decided we would rather do...

Maine Expedition Final Update

Greeting from Massachusetts, In some rivers these fish would be considered trophies, but in Maine’s best trophy brook trout river they are invasive." /> We ended the trip with some of the best fishing we could have asked for. Lakewood Camps was a huge success! A majority of the guys landed trophy brook trout and landlocked salmon. They loved the cabins and a two-night sleep in a bed. Along with...

Maine Expedition Update

Hello from the Rangeley Lakes Region, We have arrived at one of the highlights of the trip: Lakewood Camps. We will be staying in rustic cabins here on the grounds for two nights on the headwaters of the Rapid River, home to some of the largest wild Brook Trout in the Lower 48. The weather appears that it is going to hold up for the two days that we are here, and the rocks near the river are...

Maine Expedition Update

Hello from Greenville, Brett with a monster smallmouth from the West Outlet" /> We have made it out of the backcountry on Indian Pond. On arrival day, we paddled to a beautiful campsite along the East Outlet of the Kennebec River, which provided smallmouth bass, brook trout, and landlocked salmon fishing that afternoon. Following some great fishing, we stuffed our bellies with pita pizzas and sat...

Colorado Adventure 1

What a trip it has been so far! It seems like the trip has lasted way longer than the five days since we met the crew at DIA on the 21st, because we have packed so much into those days. After leaving DIA, we piled into the van and headed west to the shores of Lake Granby for our first stop on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park. After getting to know each other, our first full day of the...

Maine Expedition Update

Greetings from Indian Pond, Our group of talented young anglers and us guides made it safely to Maine on Saturday after a quick pitstop for pizza on our way up. After setting up our tents, we finished off the night by getting to know each other with some frisbee at a local campground in Greenville. Yesterday, we set up camp along the East Outlet of the Kennebec River, where we spent the morning...

Maine Adventure Final Update

Greetings from the Road— After departing from Cupsuptic Campground on Monday morning, we headed further southwest towards the New Hampshire border, where we met by a boat ready to ferry the group across Richardson Lake to historic Lakewood Camps. Lakewood Camps is only accessible to the public by boat and sits on Richardson Lake at the middle dam of the Rapid River. The guys enjoyed a cabin roof...

Maine Adventure Backcountry Update

Howdy from the Maine Woods, It is hard to believe that our Maine Adventure is rounding the halfway mark. We have had some good fishing despite some tough conditions. One of many nice smallmouth caught during our West Outlet Float." /> This morning, we paddled our canoes out of the backcountry after two nights on Indian Pond and the West Outlet of the Kennebec. We were scheduled to float the West...

Blue Ridge Update

Greetings from North Carolina, We are back from a successful trip to the West Fork of the Pigeon! Everyone caught plenty of fish, and more importantly honed their fishing skills. We landed every possible species of trout in the river including brook, rainbow, and brown. We had a beautiful primitive campsite alongside the river which made for peaceful mornings and evenings. DCIM100GOPRO" /> This...

Custom Adventures

Custom Family Adventures-Have you dreamed of taking you family on a wilderness adventure but don’t know where to start. We will work with you to design the trip of a lifetime hiking into the secluded backcountry, or “glamping” on the banks of some of the most famous rivers in the US. The fly fishers in your family can take advantage of the fishing of their dreams amongst wildlife and scenery sure...

2017 Holiday Gift Guide

Looking for the perfect gift for the fly fisherman or woman in your life! We collaborated with fly fishing manager at Orvis NYC, Rob Ceccarini, to put together a list of the top gift in each price range. He selected the items, I wrote the comments. $ Orvis Dry Release Casting T- I live in these shirts during the fishing season. Short sleeve, long sleeve, and even the hoody. Light weight, quick...

Instagram Takeover

For the first time ever LFFE will be hosting takeovers of our instagram account by LFFE Alums. This is a fun opportunity to get your favorite pictures from your past LFFE trips on our Instagram feed. Here is how it works. Step 1: Take a second to look back at all the photos from your trip. Every photo we have collected from every trip we have ever led is on our flickr page for you to view...

Final Update

It is hard to believe that I am sitting in a comfy leather chair in the Jackson Library writing my final trip update of the summer. It feels like yesterday that I was in North Carolina gearing up for the first trip of the summer. With all of the excitement that was the last few days of the Yellowstone Expedition it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that my summer flew by. After exiting the...

Final Colorado Adventure Update

Making some burn piles to help protect RMNP." /> On Monday we worked with Rocky Mountain National Park on our service project for the trip. We teamed up with the park’s fire crew to construct fire piles for the morning. Fire piles are essentially large piles of tightly stacked wood made of slash, or dead trees that were cut down. The piles are then burned during the winter and rid the area of...

Final Backcountry of the Summer

Greetings from a laundry mat in Driggs Idaho. This morning we hiked out of the backcountry for the final time. We are sad that our trip is coming to an end, but excited for all the excitement the final few days will bring. Ready to enter one of the most remote corners of Yellowstone National Park." /> One of dozens of fat rainbows we pulled out of the confluence pool." /> Despite a severe lack of...

Rocky Mountain update

For the last 4 days we have been exploring the rarely visited remote northwest corner of Rocky Mountain National Park. Tucked in between the Mummy Range and the Never Summer range, this part of the park sees almost no visitors, which makes it perfect for viewing wildlife and especially good for fly fishing. We arrived in this pristine part of the park on Wednesday and quickly set about fishing...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Hello from Mammoth Hot Springs After spending three days together in the front country we are all now getting ready to pack up and head into our final backcountry site, the Bechler River. It will be hard for this group to leave Mammoth though. Where the Boiling River (aptly named for its near boiling hot water) meets the cold Gardner River is a perfect place to soak after a long day of fishing." /...

Yellowstone Slough Creek Update

Greetings from Gardiner MT. Our final Yellowstone Expedition of the summer is off to a great start. After arriving in Jackson, WY we set out for Yellowstone to prepare for our Slough Creek backcountry and front country days in the Lamar Valley. After one night on the Madison River we headed into the Lamar where we split our group into two small groups of 5 students. Each group spent two nights in...

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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,

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Will Lillard, Founder/Director/Guide

Contact Us

info@lillardflyfishing.com

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

(828) 577-8204