Blue Ridge Adventure Update 1
The Blue Ridge fly fishing expedition is off to a great start! It has been great to see kids able to get together (at a safe distance) and participate in something they love, fly fishing and generally just being outdoors. We started the week of fishing on the Watauga River in Eastern Tennessee. The river is known for its cold, clear water and wild brown trout. The fish on the Watauga see...
COVID UPDATE 5/5
The following letter was sent to all families enrolled in a 2020 trip on 5/5. We continue to monitor the situation and will keep you posted of any changes. Dear Parents, First, I would like to thank all of you for your patience, understanding, and support during these uncertain times. Just weeks ago we were planning for a summer jam-packed with adventures. I was still attending summer opportunity...
COVID-19 Monitoring
To the entire LFFE community, We are actively monitoring the current pandemic. As always, our number one concern remains the health and well being of our participants, staff, families, and friends. In this rapidly changing environment, we do not want to rush to any decisions but are constantly evaluating every possible option. At this time we are still planning to run our summer 2020 trips as scheduled. We are also taking measures to help our community navigate through these difficult times. These measures are outlined in a recent email sent to all families currently enrolled in a summer 2020 trip. (see below) If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to me directly at 828-577-8204 or via email at [email protected]
Our First All Girls Expedition
As you may have noticed, we have been working hard on expanding our trip offerings to provide new and exciting wilderness experiences for our participants over the past few years. We have added trips to exciting and exotic locations such as Ascension Bay in the Yucatan and the fly fishing paradise of the Wind River mountain range in Wyoming. And while we certainly get excited about these new trips...
LFFE Takes on the Western Native Trout Challenge
The Western Native Trout challenge is an exciting program that challenges participants to search for native trout and the intact ecosystems that support them. As participants travel through western states in a modern-day treasure hunt for native trout species, an understanding of the importance of healthy ecosystems is almost unavoidable. Encouraging our participants and alumni to participate in...
Chicago School Goes Fly Fishing
Three years ago I got a phone call from a school just outside Chicago. North Shore Country Day has an awesome program called the Interim Week Experience. This program is a unique opportunity for teachers and faculty to share some of their personal passions and hobbies with students, while encouraging their students to participate in service and experiential learning trips throughout the world...
Wind River Gold Hunt Trip Report
This past summer, Lillard Fly Fishing Expeditions, led a group of returning students on a six day backpacking trip into The Winds in search of the ever elusive Golden Trout. For those not in the know, The Wind River Range, or “The Winds” as they are called, are one of the most amazing wild places in the lower 48 states. The range spans over 100 miles running roughly from Jackson, WY at its...
Yellowstone Expedition II
The Yellowstone Advanced Expedition is wrapping up our 19 day day trip and there has been a lot to be excited about. Between Service projects, a backpacking trip into one of the most famous backcountry rivers, and a float down the South Fork of the Snake we have certainly stayed busy. Despite some challenging weather, which included some hail and strong winds, our second backcountry into Slough...
Rocky Mountain Expedition II Final Update
Hard to believe that we are at the end of this trip! The past week has flown by and tomorrow the crew heads back home all over the country. After hiking out of the backcountry and cleaning up and resupplying, we headed to our new base of operations next to the Colorado River below the notorious Gore Canyon. We spent a good part of the day cleaning up campsites, and the wade fishing area near the...
Colorado Rocky Mountain Expedition II Update
Greetings from sunny Colorado! Its hard to believe that this only the fifth day of this trip… so much has happened it seems like at least several weeks have gone by! The trip started out with a great drive through and over the mountains to get to the doorstep of Rocky Mountain National Park. That evening we spent our time prepping for our stint chasing trout in the backcountry, and the guys were...
Yellowstone Adventure II Update
Hello from Yellowstone. Our adventure continues to be an excellent time with a great group of guys in one of the world’s most beautiful settings. Since our trip to Pebble Creek, we have continued to grow as outdoorsmen, fly fishermen, and environmentalists. Since the last update, we have been busy fishing some incredible rivers and taking in some of the amazing sights Yellowstone has to offer. We...
Colorado West Elk Update
After the first backcountry of the West Elk Expedition, we enjoyed a few days of fishing on the Taylor River. This Taylor is full of fish, many of which are huge. In addition to catching some fish during our time on the Taylor, we also completed our service project which was planting willows for the Crested Butte Land Trust. Willows provide habitat for fish and insects alike, while also preventing...
Yellowstone Expedition 1 Final Update
The Yellowstone Advanced Expedition wrapped up it’s final days with some excellent fishing on the Upper Yellowstone and a float trip down the South Fork of the Snake River. For our last days in the park, the group tried its hand on the Upper Yellowstone for some of the biggest Cutthroat’s that the park has to offer. The cutthroat in the Upper Yellowstone spend most of their lives in Yellowstone...
West Elk Expedition Update #1
We got a well needed nights rest after a full day of travelTuesday and rose with the sun to head to our next front country campsite deep in the Gunnison Country. On the way there we got fishing licenses and any fishing essentials that caught our eye. The drive to the campsite left everyone in the van speechless due to the endless rolling hills painted with yellows, oranges, and purples from the...
Yellowstone Adventure 1 (Update 3)
Hello from Yellowstone. Our adventure continues to be an excellent time with a great group of guys in one of the world’s most beautiful settings. Since the last update, we have continued to grow as outdoorsmen, fly fishermen, and environmentalists. While staying at Mammoth campground, we had the opportunity to hike and fish in the incredibly scenic Gardner River Valley, the driest part of the park...
Yellowstone Expedition 1 Update 2
The Yellowstone Advanced Expedition ventured to Slough Creek four days ago, ready to explore one of the parks most famous rivers. Slough Creek is divided into four meadow sections. The front country section that is along the road to the campground, and the legendary first, second, and third backcountry meadows. For the backcountry, the group once again split into halves. Half the group stayed in...
Yellowstone Adventure 1 Update 2
Greetings from the Yellowstone Adventure where we have completed our first backcountry expedition. The trip is off to a great start with a great group of kids and excellent Co-Leaders in Andrew and Logan, Leader-in-Training, Henry. We even had a photographer, Matteo, join us in the backcountry. Given our strong start, we are looking forward to a great time during the remainder. We started the trip...
Yellowstone Expedition 1 Update 1
The Yellowstone Advanced Expedition wrapped up its first backcountry trip with a lot to be excited about. For our first backcountry, the group split in half, one part fishing the famous Upper Snake, and the other making the trek from the the wild Heart Lake along the Heart and Snake Rivers back to the south entrance of the park. Both treks were challenging and the fishing required persistence, but...
Rocky Mountain Expedition I Update #2
We only had one day in between our backcountries, and it is safe to say that we made the most of it. For most of the day, we fished a tailwater section of the Colorado River just below Shadow Mountain Reservoir. This part of the river was full of Browns, Rainbows, Cutthroat/Rainbow hybrids, and even Kokanee Salmon. We got back to camp excited about the fishing that day but even more excited about...
Colorado Adventure II Update #2
As enjoyable as the first half of the Colorado was, the second half surely matched it as the boys continued to sharpen our fishing skills, grew in awareness of environmental concerns, and above all, enjoyed the companionship of new friends. To start the second half of our trip, we took an incredibly beautiful drive over mountains to the west side of Rocky Mountain National park, which featured...
Rocky Mountain Expedition I Update #1
The first night of the trip we stayed at a campsite called Stillwater, which is near Granby, CO. As is tradition, we cooked a delicious meal of cheeseburgers and beans for our first dinner. The second day we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park and fished the headwaters of the Colorado River. Although it was challenging due to the amount of water, many of the camper still managed to land fish...
Colorado Adventure II Update #1
Greetings from the Rocky Mountain Adventure! We have had a great first few days on the water, building strong friendships in camp, and having the opportunity to explore the beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park. With our fishing skills sharper and our hiking legs stronger, we are looking forward to a great remainder of the trip. After heading into the mountains together, we spent the first day...
Yellowstone Micro Adventure Update 1
We can't believe the Yellowstone Hosted Adventure is already halfway over. This hard-working group of anglers have already fished the Gallatin, Madison, Gardner, and some small brook trout streams, but it has all been warm-up for what is to come. We started our trip on the Gallatin River where we set up camp within feet of banks. From our campsite, we fished the sections of the river that lie...
Maine Expedition Update 3 (Pat's Group)
Greetings from Maine! After the incredible fishing we experienced on the Rapid River, the crew headed to Rangeley lakes state park for two nights. Followed by our backcountry expedition in the Moosehead lake region of Northern Maine. After our boat ride back from Lakewood the kids napped while we drove down remote dirt roads to Rangeley lake state park where we set up camp right on the banks...
Maine Advanced Expedition 3 (Dayton's Group)
The Maine Expedition is trucking along strong with our backcountry trip already behind us. For our expedition into the Maine North Woods, the group set out onto Indian Pond, a large tailwater fed pond (more like a lake) that grows some absolutely monstrous fish. We paddled to a secluded campsite where the East Outlet of the Kennebec River flows into the pond, where we set up camp and immediately...
Maine Expedition Update 2 (Pat's Group)
Greetings from Maine!, After all the students cut their teeth with their first fish of the trip on the Magalloway river we made our way to the Historic Lakewood Camp on the banks of the Rapid River. We started this fly fishing pilgrimage with an early boat ferry to the lodge. The boat ride left everyone in awe from the sheer beauty of the north woods of Maine. The sky was seemingly endless and...
Maine Advanced Expedition 2 (Dayton's Group)
Greetings from the Maine Advanced Expedition! As we continue our adventure up to Maine after wrapping up the Massachusetts Pike floats, everyone is getting excited for the trophy Brook trout fishing and reminiscing about monster pike fought, caught, and lost. Over the last three days, we have been floating the housatonic river for pike and smallmouth from drift boats. Despite the challenge...
Ascension Bay Final Update
It has been an eventful few days since you last heard from us here in Mexico. Our first two full days of fishing this trip were amazing, so it was only fair that our third day slowed down a bit. Thursday presented us with some adverse conditions. The winds picked up making casting a challenge, and high clouds rolled in making it difficult to spot fish. In order to alleviate these conditions we...
Ascension Bay Update
We have our first two days under our belts here in Punta Allen Mexico, and it really could not have gone any better. Arrival day was admittedly a bit of an ordeal. It seemed as though half of the US tried to get into Cancun yesterday. The guys valiantly battled the extremely long customs line, which was taking about 1.5 - 2 hours to navigate. Once we were all through, we made the trek down south...
Big Skies and Remote Wilderness for 2020
When planning new trips on public land it sometimes takes years of planning before we even mention the likelihood of the trip taking place. Our Yellowstone trips are the perfect example. After several years of leading commercial trips and personal expeditions into the park, we knew exactly what a world-class teen fly fishing trip in Yellowstone should look like. We were prepared from day one of...
