Montana Fly Fishing Lodge

Meet our Guide Team

Chris "Wildman" Owens

Fly Fishing Outfitter and Guide Legend!
Years Fishing:35
Years Guiding: 20
For nearly 20 years Chris has traveled around world making adventure fly fishing films. Along the way Chris and the founding members of AEG Media started the Fly Fishing Film Tour which now reaches out to well over 100 venues across the US annually. In 2010 Chris and others started MOTIV FISHING. Their first big film project was called GEOFISH, which documented a two-year overland expedition from Portland Oregon to the bottom of South America in a vegetable oil powered truck.
After GEOFISH they started a new adventure series on YouTube called GEOBASS, where they’d spend the next 4 years traveling the globe pursuing any fish with the last name bass. In 2019 Chris and the MOTIV crew were the first people to bring adventure fly fishing entertainment to mainstream television with their new series Fish or Die, which is currently airing on Animal Planet. Fish or Die followed the crew on an 8-month journey through 10 different countries to document world’s last great undiscovered places to fish.
When the wild steelhead runs on the Olympic Peninsula subside, you’ll either find him chasing trout with Montana Fly Fishing Lodge clients in Montana or large permit in Mexico. Rest assured, if there’s one thing that you can count on if you’re in Chris’ boat, is that he’ll always have a few good stories to tell.
motivfishing.com/

Jeremy DeVries

Fly Fishing and Wing Shooting Outfitter / Guide Extraordinaire!
Years Fishing: 40
Years Guiding: 28
Years Building Drift Boats: 10
Jeremy began his guiding career on the Madison, Yellowstone and Missouri Rivers while in college in 1994. He moved to the Bighorn River in 1997. Jeremy has an outgoing and friendly demeanor that makes even the most novice guest feel right at home. He is a skilled fly casting and wing shooting instructor, but understands that having FUN is the most important part of any trip. Jeremy enjoys sharing Montana with fly fishermen and duck hunters of all skill levels from all around the world.
Jeremy was a 40 Under 40 Award winner in Billings and has been featured on ESPN, OLN and Fox Outdoors multiple times during his guiding career. He was the head guide and outfitter for an Orvis Endorsed lodge for 10+ years (Orvis Lodge of the Year in 2007) and has a degree in psychology from Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. You may see his comments and hunting advice in Wildfowl and DU magazines, as well as photographs and articles in other publications. Jeremy has over 3500 professionally guided days on his personal resume.
riverrockoutfitters.com/

Chris "The Vanilla Gorilla" Stinson

Fly Fishing Guide, Swami of the Bighorn and lower Yellowstone!
Years fishing: 35
Years guiding: 18
Chris’ personal mission: To make everybody who comes to Montana have the best fishing adventure of their lives. From novice to expert you will slay on the river basically slay everyday. Oh, and you will probably laugh your a#$ off while doing it. Our guides are legit funny, salt of the earth kind of people. To know them is to love them. Welcome to the family.
vanillagorillaoutdoors.com/

Ryan "Granma" Stefek

Fly Fishing Outfitter and Guide
Years Fishing: 32
Years Guiding: 18
Ryan is a Montana native, raised within walking distance of the Yellowstone River. Hunting, fishing and camping were some of his best memories as a child. As soon as he could drive he took advantage of the great hunting and fishing this area has to offer. In 2003 he guided my first fisherman on the Bighorn river. Several years later he started guiding upland bird hunters.
This occupation has taken him to some of the most incredible fishing and hunting destinations in the Western U.S. and arguably the world. "I’ve had the great opportunity to guide fishermen and hunters on some of the most fabled rivers and game rich plains and mountains of Montana, Wyoming and Washington."
Father to an amazing daughter.
rsooutfitters.com/

Bruno Tripodi

Fly Fishing Guide
Years Fishing: 30
Years Guiding: 8
Bruno started fly fishing for trout from a very young age in the mythical mountain streams of Córdoba Argentina, he gained his guiding experience in the emblematic rivers of Patagonia Argentina, such as Rio Limay and Rio Grande. He has guided for some of the best Lodges in the world such as Estancia Teka Lodge and Laguna Verde Lodge Lake Estrobel and others. Now in Montana during the Argentina winter, he intends to bring all his knowledge and experience to your stay at Montana Fly Fishing Lodge.
When he accompanies you on the river he will always provide authenticity and hospitality to our clients and do everything possible to make your fishing experience enjoyable.
Six years ago Bruno founded his own company, Tripodi Fly Fishing conducting guided Fly Fishing tours in his native Cordoba. Bruno spends practically the whole year on the river, his favorite place is there, by your side, enjoying every moment.
tripodiflyfishing.com

Nathan "9 Lives" Schepker

Fly Fishing Guide
Years Fishing: 25
Years Guiding: 7
Nathan grew up in Washington State and has been fishing for as long as he can remember. Since he could walk, his dad would take him out fishing in their boat - thinking it would be a short, couple-hour trip was their mistake, he would fish until forced to stop and then cry when he had to go in (sometimes he still does this). Little did his parents know, they had started his lifelong addiction to, “the tug.”
He took up fly fishing while attending college at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, where he graduated with an Environmental Science degree in 2017. After years of fly fishing “for fun,” Nathan turned his passion into a business, guiding in June of 2016 on rivers around Washington; Yakima River, Klickitat River, Olympic Peninsula and has never looked back. He is now living his dream, traveling to chase different species, spending about 200 days a year on the water. He spends most of the winter guiding on the Olympic Peninsula for winter Steelhead, spring and summer months guiding on the Yakima River for trout and bass, and with Montana Fly Fishing Lodge guiding the Yellowstone, Big Horn, and Stillwater Rivers for trout, and ending the year on the Klickitat River for Steelhead.
Nathan enjoys taking out a wide variety of anglers on the water. Whether it is someone’s first or thousandth fish on a fly, he gets the same rush from the tug. He caters each trip for the type of angler he is with that day. Whether working on the mechanics of their cast, dry fly fishing, nymphing, tightline nymphing, streamer fishing or just out to enjoy the day and land fish; he does it all. Building relationships and creating connections with people through the laughs and deep conversations that happen on the boat, is something that he thoroughly enjoys and looks forward to. Each day you’ll find his boat clean, on time and ready for you to have the best fly fishing experience possible.
topflyguides.com/
Years Fishing: 25
Years Guiding: 7

Brandon "Mustache" Coletti

Fly Fishing Guide
Years Fishing: 30
Years Guiding: 5
Brandon originally hails from the foothills of Lake Tahoe, before moving to Southern Montana in 2018 to pursue Yellowstone Cutthroat and wild Brown Trout in the Beartooth Mountains and greater Yellowstone backcountry. The scenic mountains and valleys of the East and West Rosebud, Stillwater, Rock Creek, Yellowstone drainages, and surrounding tailwater fisheries offer some of the most productive trout fishing in country, and are where he spends the majority of his time in search of trophy trout. Specializing in high alpine stream, tributary, and creek fishing. It brings him great joy to draw upon his decades of fly fishing knowledge and experience, and share techniques needed to pursue wild trout in a pristine and natural environment. Through his instruction-based guide sessions he focus’ on reading trout holding water, stream entomology, casting and fly presentation, responsible catch-and-release techniques.

Liz "The Caddy" Foley

Fly Fishing Casting Instructor and Guide
Years Fishing: 40
Years Casting Instruction: 10
Years Guiding: 2
Liz grew up fly fishing with her parents and brothers in Northern New Mexico. They spent family time fly fishing and camping around small streams and lakes high in the mountains every summer. During college in Washington state she would spend time fly fishing some of small streams, rivers and lakes in the Cascade Range. After college she moved to Salt Lake City for a job as an ICU RN and fly fished throughout the Wasatch and Uintas Mountains as well as backpacked on fishing trips into the Wind River Range of Wyoming. She started tying flies for everyone and anyone to improve her knowledge and skills.Since moving to Montana for work she has roamed all over the Beartooth and Bighorn Mountains fly fishing everywhere she can. Opportunities to "moonlight" at local Fly Shops, and in the fly fishing departments of local Sporting Goods stores allowed her to teach classes in fly fishing, fly casting and fly tying. For a number of years she has had the privilege of being a Fly Fishing Instructor and a River Helper with Casting For Recovery, a national organization, here in Montana.
She became a "walk and wade" guide 2 years ago. Taking people out to enjoy and fish some of our local water is always fun. I enjoy working on fly fishing techniques and reading water skills that can be applied to other waters. Fitting in local flora and fauna, plus local history is just a bonus to a day on the water.

Dan "Mr World Record" McGuire

Fly Fishing Mentor and Casting Instructor
Years Fishing: 55
Years Instructing: 20
Years Rod Building: 25
Dan started fly fishing at a young age living in the mountains of Colorado. Since then he has traveled all over fly fishing everything from trout to Trevally. He is proficient both in single hand fly rods as well as Spey rods. If anyone is in need of learning either style of fly fishing it can be accommodated at Montana Fly Fishing Lodge. When teaching how to cast, an illustration is shown for the client to refer to later.
After growing up fly fishing the mountains of Colorado, he joined the Navy serving his nation on Submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He fished for everything from Blue Fin to Pacific Oxeye Tarpon. After the Navy, Dan went into Paleontology having always been a rock hound. He still is and collects rocks while fishing the Yellowstone. We have agates, petrified wood and fossils you can pick up along the banks.
Then Dan went to work for Fisheries in Minnesota for 13 years in the Lake of the Woods / Rainy River area. While there, Dan picked up most of his 26 fishing world records. He’s an avid Fly Tier and Rod builder, he started tying flies early in his life and has been building rods for more than 20 years.
After leaving Minnesota, Dan came to Montana where he’s worked in the fly fishing industry in sales and management for the past 6 years.