montana in august

putting together a trip to MT. for late august.
this is my first trip up there,my wife will be going she is only a part time fisherman.
I would like to spend 4-5 days there.no big lodges. must sleep in a real bed every night.
I know the fishing will be great that time of year so lets not talk about that.
I need to know what town(s) I should stay in and rivers to go to.
only public places please.wading only.
This is my 29 birthday present so I want to see yellowstone,hike in some mountains,catch some trout,see some elk and just really convence my wife we need to move their after I finish college in a year.
please give me some sound advice.
I would love to see a few cities up there so my wife knows that they do have a movie theater,mall and buger king.
web-sites,magazines and books to read would be great.
thanks,
kirk whitehead

If you want to visit yellowstone, then your best bets would be staying in either West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Livingston, or Bozeman. Somehow I doubt your wife's idea of a mall and Montana's idea of a mall are the same...I spent enough time on the East Coast to have seen a few big malls. All kidding aside, I recommend Bozeman cause there is a little more to do than the other places I mentioned. As far as pricing on accomodations...dont have an idea since I live here. LOL

As far as fishing there are some places to wade the Yellowstone. The best river for wading only that I know of would be the Gallatin. Other on this site may be able to give a bit more info for that than I am. I spend every weekend in the summer in the mountains fishing lakes (primarily the Beartooths). If that interests you I, can give you a few suggestions of lakes to hike to for decent fishing.

As for books to read if you like the idea of the Beartooths, then I suggest getting the Falcon Guide "Hiking the Beartooths", or (dont know the publisher) "Dayhikes around Bozeman". You might also try Falcon Guide's "Hiking Yellowstone" as well for some ideas of hikes to do in Yellowstone. If the idea of fishing the beartooths appeals to you...Falcon Guide "Fishing the Beartooths" is as good as it gets (I cant live without this book http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif )

If you have specific ideas and questions then feel free to send me an email I will help you where I can.


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Take care everyone and cya around. Mark

If you're into "western" stuff,you'd oughta take a day and go to the museums in Cody, WY. Russell art museum, and Buffalo Bill Cody museum. Both are national treasures. Plan on a whole day to see everything. There is some good fishing close by as well. Check it out on-line.

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Lew

You can be like "baby, this is west yellowstone, and look, there's an I-max theater right over there, and they show the same movie all summer long. This is a great town if you love drinking. Did I mention that it only gets to -40 or so in the winter?"
She'll fall in love with the place.

I would check out Bozeman. It's cool, has a decent economy and the mall probably has all of the same stores that she's used to seeing in the mall wherever it is you are from. There is plenty of good wade fishing near there.

I,ve taken many trips to Montana with my wife who is also a part time fisher. Love to visit West Yellowstone, Gardiner, Livingston but too small for year round living. Bozeman, maybe. Try Jackson Hole, WY just a bit south of yellowstone although a little expensive but she will love it. Also if you are looking for a city feeling try Missoula, MT

Just wanted to clarify something about my first post. I was suggesting those towns as places to visit and use as a base of operations. Cant say I would want to live in West or Gardiner (though personally I like both towns.

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Take care everyone and cya around. Mark

I had my first trip to Montana this past summer in july. I stayed at a ranch called Parade Rest Ranch In west yellowstone. It's about 6 miles outside of the West entrance of Yellowstone Natl park.Price was very reasonable I fished on the MAdison everyday that I was there. I fished under the bridge which crosses over the Madison and was about 3 miles away from the entrance to the park.The whole week I probably only saw about 6 other people fishing. Caught some nice browns and a few small rainbows. If you want to try some creek fishing I also fished in the Grayling Creek.Part of the creek is located right on the ranch,it then runs off property there will be signs. I had some success there caught some nice browns. Good Luck