Guides and anglers alike, book your travel! The 2014 Orvis Guide Rendezvous and Down the Hatch Fishing Festival is kicking off in Missoula, Montana the first weekend in April.
The Guide Rendezvous is open to all guides (not just those endorsed by Orvis) and features seminars, presentations, and workshops designed to help you as a professional fly-fishing guide. This will mark the 28th year that Orvis has hosted a conference for professional fly-fishing guides.
On Saturday, April 5th, the Down the Hatch Fish Festival will be held in Caras Park, right on the river, and it is open to everyone. Test-cast a bunch of rods, check out lots of other gear, enjoy live music, rub elbows with the likes of Tom Rosenbauer and Pete Kutzer, and have a beer. Then head over to the historic Wilma Theatre for the 2nd Annual Orvis Film Fest. It’s a great time.
Spring fishing in western Montana can be lights-out, with great hatches of Skwalas, gray drakes, midges, and perhaps some early blue-winged olives. If you want to throw streamers, this is a great time to hook up with big fish eager to bulk up after a long winter.
For more information, check the pages for the 2014 Orvis Guide Rendezvous and
Down the Hatch Fishing Festival.
Scenes from last year’s events:
The Falcon’s Ledge crowd gets ready for the film festival.
A cast-off among some of the biggest names in fly casting included Pete Kutzer (far right).
Hank and Reese practice the “paralyzer” with Orvis-endorsed guide Aron Cascone.
The pre-event cocktail party at the hotel was a fine kickoff.
The Down the Hatch Fishing festival in Caras Park was wall-to-wall fun.