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2024 Returning Student Discount

We value our returning participants more than we can express. Therefore, we are happy to provide them with a returning student discount. The returning student discount will be applied to the final invoice as follows: Any participants who are returning for their second summer adventure/expedition receive a $100 discount. Participants joining us for their third summer adventure/expedition will...

Charlie Parr Memorial Fund

Charlie's love for the wildest of places helped inspire a generation of young adventurers. We want to honor that legacy with a scholarship fund in Charlie's name. The fund's purpose will be to provide outdoor adventure scholarships for teenagers who share Charlie's adventurous, positive, and caring spirit, and would not have the means to join otherwise. Getting that started will take time. In the...

Yellowstone Girls Expedition

The Yellowstone girls trip had a great first week! The girls headed from Bozeman into The National park straight away. Camping and fishing for the first two nights near the Gardiner River. After a little refresher course on casting and technique, the girls were back at it, catching some beautiful rainbow trout. With fishing closures after 2pm due to higher temperatures, we had ample time in the...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Greetings from the Yellowstone Adventure!! The boys just completed their first backcountry, and it did not disappoint! We hiked a little over 3 miles into a very untouched section of the park near Norris Geyser Basin. We set up camp along the banks of Straight Creek, a small, free-flowing stream that dumps out of Grizzly Lake short ways down the trail from camp. It is loaded with eager brook trout...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Greetings from Yellowstone! The Yellowstone Adventure is off to a great start. After two nights in Paradise Valley, we spent the next two nights outside the park with easy access to the Lamar Valley. This morning the group packed up for their first backcountry, a two-night trip into Grizzley Lake. We kicked off the trip with a day of fishing on the Gardner River. This technical fishery is even...

Montana Road Trip Update

Hello from the Montana road trip! The Montana Road trip is flying by. We can't believe our trip is already winding down, but we still have some great fishing to look forward to. After spending a few days on the famous Upper Madison River, the group packed up camp and headed further west to fish some smaller water. Although smaller, this river was packed full of nice fish, and we managed to catch a...

Rocky Mountain Expedition Final Update

The ending to the Rocky Mountain Expedition I was bittersweet. Most of group landed their biggest fish of the trip in the last few days, but we were sad for the trip to be over. After leaving our awesome campsite at the River Run Resort, we headed down to Kremmling, CO and made camp on the Colorado River below Gore Canyon. Our first night we got lucky and fish began to rise for dry flies right...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Following our stay in the backcountry of Grizzly Lake, our group journeyed out of the park for a night at Lillard headquarters, where we recounted the tales of our tangles with Straight Creek’s Brook Trout over games of Can Jam and ping pong. We hiked up the surrounding hills to watch the sunset, and sleep came soon after. The following day we arrived at our new home, the Pebble Creek Campground...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Howdy from Lach Leven campground in Paradise Valley, Montana! Our last week has been filled with huge fish, beautiful scenery, and even more exploration of Yellowstone National Park. Today the group will cap it all off with a float on the Lower Yellowstone River in drift boats with guides from Montana Troutfitters. After departing the Slough Creek backcountry, we took a much-needed “refreshment...

Montana Road Trip II Update 2

Greetings from Montana! The second Montana Road Trip is flying by. After departing the airport, we drove to the Upper Madison Valley, where we set up camp. After some great fishing on the upper Madison, we moved camp to the Ruby Reservoir yesterday morning. Our next move hinges on the weather and water conditions. The trip started with a bang. By the time we had finished the hour-long drive to our...

Montana Road Trip II Update 2

Greetings from Montana! The second Montana Road Trip is flying by. After departing the airport, we drove to the Upper Madison Valley, where we set up camp. After some great fishing on the upper Madison, we moved camp to the Ruby Reservoir yesterday morning. Our next move hinges on the weather and water conditions. The trip started with a bang. By the time we had finished the hour-long drive to our...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Another slough creek backcountry is in the books. Since our last update, we spent some time exploring Yellowstone’s front country fishing opportunities throughout the Lamar Valley and spent two nights camped in the infamous Third Meadow of Slough Creek. We started with stalking large Yellowstone cutthroat along the banks of the crystalline waters of Trout Lake. The Mammoth area was also a favorite...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Greetings from Yellowstone, After exiting our first backcountry, our group set up camp in the Lamar Valley. Home to some of the best fishing and wildlife viewing in the park, the Lamar Valley is a highlight of every trip. We had easy access to the Lamar River, Soda Butte, Slough Creek, and Pebble Creek from our basecamp. Each river is unique. Combined, they offer some ideal conditions for everyone...

Rocky Mountain Expedition Update

The Rocky Mountain Expedition just finished their second backcountry and it did not disappoint! We hiked up the North Inlet of Grand Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park, which was impacted by the East Troublesome Fire last fall. Luckily, our campsites were not affected by the fire and the fish population is still thriving. It was a bit eerie to hike through a recently burned area but that also...

Yellowstone Expedition Update 2

Hello from Pebble Creek campground in the heart of Yellowstone National Park! We have just wrapped up our first backcountry trip in the fabled Slough Creek, home to one of the last remaining populations of native trout in the United States and some of the most beautiful sights in the park. We began the trip at Canyon campground right outside Yellowstone after gathering the group from the airport...

Yellowstone Adventure I Update 2

The Yellowstone Adventure just returned from our first backcountry trip to Grizzly Lake after a great start to our trip. After fishing the Madison and Snake rivers in the Yellowstone front country, we hiked almost three miles from the Mt. Holmes trailhead in northwestern Yellowstone. Mt. Holmes is the tallest mountain in the Wyoming portion of the Gallatin Range and provided our group with some...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

After roughly 35 miles and 4 nights, we’re out of the backcountry. Heart Lake and the Upper Snake provided a beautiful setting for some great fishing. Rarely in Yellowstone can one go days without seeing another person. The fishing at Heart Lake proved to be difficult because of the low water year we are experiencing in the west. After forging through the difficult fishing the group was rewarded...

Rocky Mountain Expedition Update

The Rocky Mountain Expedition I just finished their first backcountry, and everyone had a blast! Before going into Rocky Mountain National Park for 3 nights, we spent a full day fishing around Grand Lake on the Colorado River. Every kid caught fish and got to practice their casting and knot tying skills as well. The night before our hike we had a big dinner of spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic...

Colorado Adventure Update

Greetings from the Colorado Adventure! After a long travel day on Monday spent at the airport and driving to Rocky Mountain National Park, the group was excited to go fishing Tuesday morning. We began the day with some knot tying, casting practice, and going over the basics of fly fishing before heading out to practice on Glacier Creek, a small stream that runs by Glacier Basin campground where we...

Montana Road Trip Update 2

Hello from Big Sky country! After spending our first few days on the legendary Madison river, the group headed over to spend some time on some smaller tailwaters. Although the water may be small, the fish grow very large due to the superb insect life that fattens up the fish! The past few days we’ve camped on Ruby Reservoir, in the heart of Big Sky country. Our campsite was on top of a hill...

Custom Montana Road Trip Update 1

Hey Y’all!, The Road Trip is off to a great start! We are having an awesome time getting to know this squad and showing them around southwest Montana! Everyone arrived midday Tuesday and we quickly set up camp near the Madison in Ennis after a visit to Fin & Feather in Bozeman for flies and licenses. After a few intense games of Can Jam and some intrasquad wiffle ball with the Yellowstone...

Yellowstone Hosted Update

Greetings from the Yellowstone Hosted Adventure, It is hard to believe we are already half of the way through our trip. Time flies when you have a great group and good fishing. We have focused our fishing in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone National Park. These rivers don't usually come into prime shape until mid or late July. This year everything is early, and our timing is perfect. The favorite...

Montana Road Trip Update I

Howdy Parents, The Montana Road Trip is off to a Hot start, literally. Like much of the country, Montana is experiencing an extreme heatwave. It took some adjustments to figure out what the fish wanted during these unusual conditions, but our group has begun to crack the code. We have spent the last three nights camped outside of Ennis, MT on the Upper Madison. This section of river is still cold...

Berkshires to Beaches Final Update

Descending Eastward from the Berkshires, our group traveled to the hollowed fishing grounds of Cape Cod. Along the way, we made a pit stop at Concord Outfitters to re-stock on salt water flies. The kids enjoyed talking with the fly shop employees about their time in the Berkshires and their upcoming salt water adventures, and browsed through the selection of flies, rods, and reels. Camp was set up...

Maine Expedition Update #4

The past few days of fishing have proved to be a test of perseverance. Unrelenting heat combined with an equally oppressive sun has had everyone exhausted by the end of the day. Although tough at times we rose each day with the sun to begin our canoe floats. Numerous fish were caught, more smallmouth bass, some big largemouth bass, and even a few pike. These last few days have served as a fitting...

Thorofare Expedition Trip Report

Greetings from the inaugural Thorofare expedition! The crew has successfully made it out of the most remote place in the lower forty-eight! After picking up the kids from the airport, we traveled to the Varney bridge campsite on the Madison river to start backcountry prep and let the kids get to know each other. The next day was a day full of driving through Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. After...

Maine Expedition Update #3

Hello from Housatonic Meadows Campground! This morning we gathered our things, packed the trailer, and said goodbye to the waters of Maine, looking forward to the several days of pike and smallmouth bass fishing we have ahead of us. After a long drive we finally arrived on the bank of the Housatonic and settled in to our new home for the next three nights. The past 5 days have treated us well...

Berkshires to Beaches Update #3

Greetings from Western Mass! The kids have had a jam packed couple of days on the Housatonic full of swimming, loads of fish, and great memories. The weather for the past couple of days has been sunny and perfect allowing for full days of fishing and fun. To start, the group floated a beautiful stretch of the Housy slamming nice sized smallmouth from canoes. Everybody had a successful day of...

Berkshires to Beaches Update

Hey Everyone, We are almost a week into the Berkshires to beaches adventure and everyone is having a great time! We camped the first few nights in Lenox at October Mountain State Forest, where we were near the Housatonic river. For two of the days we fished for smallmouth bass on the Housy; the kids absolutely crushed them. With triple digit fish counts, everyone got on the board early, often, and...

Maine Expedition Update

Greetings from Rangeley Lake State Park! Spirits were high today as we boated out of Lakewood Camps and drove to Rangeley. We are planning on enjoying a campfire and s’mores tonight after a dinner of bratwurst and veggie burgers. Since the last update the crew has had an epic couple of days! On our first day of fishing we were treated to one of Western Maine’s best rivers - the mighty Magalloway...

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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,

Will Lillard signature

Will Lillard, Founder/Director/Guide

Contact Us

[email protected]

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

(828) 577-8204