The LFFE Blog

Yellowstone adventure II

Greetings from Gardiner, MT, After spending our first day in Yellowstone doing a knot-tying and casting seminar, we were more than ready to start fishing. Our first stop for fishing was at Tower Creek, where a beautiful stream meanders right behind the campsite. The Creek is loaded with Brook Trout as well many Cutthroat-Rainbow hybrids, and each angler was able to catch some fish. That night we...

Colorado West Elk Update

It sure is good to be back to civilization! We have had quite the week since you last heard from us. This past Saturday we worked with the Crested Butte Land Trust for our service project. We spent the morning pulling invasive weed species from the banks of the Slate River just outside the town of Crested Butte. After breaking for lunch we spent the afternoon demolishing unwanted social trails...

Yellowstone Expedition Update

Greetings from Yellowstone. The last few days have been action packed and full of adventure in the backcountry and frontcountry of Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley. Monday morning the group had a leisurely start at the Gardiner river campground, which started with a delicious hot breakfast of pancakes and sausage. Once everyone had gotten their fill, we broke down camp and headed out to the kickball...

CO West Elk Update II

We have certainly been busy since leaving the airport in Denver on the 21st. Our first day was primarily a travel day that saw us go from DIA all the way to the headwaters of the Arkansas river near Buena Vista. We were fortunate enough to be celebrating a birthday on our first night as a group and went out to dinner at the “world famous” burger stand K’s in BV for some burgers and shakes. In the...

Yellowstone Adventure I Update

It is hard to believe that our first Yellowstone Adventure of the summer is coming to an end. The last few days have been spent fishing the backcountry of the Lamar Valley. Today we will fish inside Yellowstone National Park one last time before we head back to Jackson for our service project, whitewater rafting, and a float fishing trip down the Snake River. For our final backcountry trip our...

Yellowstone Expedition Update 2

The past few days of the Yellowstone Expedition have been filled with big fish! For our first stop the group tested their skills on the Upper Yellowstone River. There the group found themselves fishing for humungous cutthroat trout on one of the biggest rivers in the park. Everyone had a chance at some of the biggest cutthroat Yellowstone has to offer. One full day of fishing on the Yellowstone...

Yellowstone Adventure Update

Greetings from Yellowstone National Park, We have just exited our first backcountry section of the Yellowstone Adventure! Before I go into the details on the backcountry, I’ll sum up what we did leading up to it. We tuned up our fishing skills the day after arriving in Jackson Hole with a knot tying and casting seminar along the Madison River, which is inside Yellowstone National Park. Later that...

Yellowstone Advanced Expedition Update

The Yellowstone Expedition got off to an early ‪start on Monday morning‬ as we prepared our belongings and broke down camp at the Gros Ventre campground near the Jackson Airport. We were getting ready for our entrance into Yellowstone. On our drive up to the backcountry office for permits and a lesson on bear safety, we were able to enjoy the scenic Snake River Valley and Grand Teton Mountain...

Rocky Mountain Expedition Final Update

Hard to believe that the Rocky Mountain Expedition has come to a close. It seems like only yesterday that the trip was just getting started. Since exiting the backcountry for the last time, the nature of our fishing has drastically changed. We swapped the high alpine creeks and lakes of Rocky mountain National Park for the low desert scrubland of the main body of the Colorado River. While we left...

Colorado Expedition Update II

Its hard to believe it, but our trip is on the home stretch now that we have exited our second backcountry. We hiked out of the wilderness of Rocky Mountain National Park for the last time on this trip today, and boy were the last 4 days awesome. We hiked into the wilderness on Thursday under threatening skies which was actually pretty nice because it kept the temperature cool for our mostly...

Colorado Adventure II Final Update

After we exited the backcountry on Monday July 9th we had our day of community service. Before getting to work we cooked a delicious breakfast of pancakes and sausage. For our service project we picked up trash and other debris along the banks of the Colorado River. We worked with the Bureau of Land Management on the project, who manages this specific area. The location is called “Pumphouse...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Expedition Update 2

It has been an action packed six days since the beginning of the Rocky Mountain Expedition! Its hard to believe that less than a week ago we were hanging out in the airport considering all we have done and seen. The trip truly got started on Friday the sixth when we entered Rocky Mountain National Park to conduct our fly fishing seminar. We got started by learning and perfecting the basic knots...

Colorado Adventure II Update 2

Our journey into the backcountry started early Saturday morning, where we took our time packing up tents and enjoying breakfast burritos. After which we loaded up the van and began the two hour drive into Rocky Mountain National park. The drive to the trailhead was chalk full of wildlife, and the group was able to spot six moose just from the car. Once we got to the trailhead, we organized our...

Maine Expedition Final Update (Edward, Cal, and Dayton)

Greetings from LFFE. By now I am sure you have all heard some great stories from our successful Maine Expedition. After leaving Lakewood camps we made the drive down to MA for some pike fishing. We had absolutely perfect weather the entire trip, but unfortunately our luck ran out. While driving south through Maine in a light rain, it was apparently coming down in buckets in western MA. The...

Maine Expedition Final Update (Pat, Nate, and Connor)

Greetings from LFFE, By now I am sure you have all heard some great stories from our Maine Expedition. After leaving Lakewood Camps the group headed to the Moosehead Lakes Region for a canoe trip into the backcountry of the East and West Outlets of the Kennebec River. Just north of Moosehead Lake, Indian Pond (more like a lake in my opinion), provides the perfect opportunity to experience a true...

Colorado Rocky Mountain Adventure Update

What a few days it has been for us! We just hiked out of the backcountry on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. On Thursday we woke up, made up some delicious breakfast burritos, then broke camp and packed our backpacks in preparation for our hike into the backcountry. Our destination for the day was Fern Lake, a beautiful alpine lake situated 3.7 miles and a 1250 vertical foot climb...

Maine Update 3

Hello from the Berkshires, Our group made the trip south today from Lakewood Camps to Egremont Massachusetts, where we will spend the last few days of the trip fishing for northern pike in the Housatonic River, which winds in and out of the quaint towns here in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. It is hard to believe that the trip is already wrapping up, but we are definitely looking forward...

Maine Update 3

Greetings from Maine. Our group just wrapped up our time at Lakewood Camps and is headed to the Moosehead Lakes region of Maine for some trophy Smallmouth fishing. The trip has been flying by, and it is hard to believe that we are about to start our last section of the trip. Saying goodbye to our cabins at the historic Lakewood Camps." /> Lakewood Camps sits on the Rapid River, widely regarded as...

Maine Update 2

Hello from Moosehead Lake, Our group has exited the backcountry, and the fishing was great. Many trophy smallmouth were caught, along with some brook trout, salmon, and the ever-present creek chub. Our campsite could not have been more perfect, as we were at the mouth of the East outlet of the Kennebec river, just a short paddle from where we ended the day on our float trips. The evenings were...

Maine Expedition Update 2

Greetings from Maine, Our group that started their trip with 3 days of pike and smallmouth fishing in Western Massachusetts officially made it to Maine today. We could not have asked for a more perfect start to our trip. After arriving in Western Maine on Monday we hit the ground running by jumping right into some pike and smallmouth fishing on the Housatonic River. The pike and smallmouth make...

Maine Expedition Update

Hello from Maine, We have gotten our first couple days under our belt with our already very experienced young anglers, and we could not be more excited for the upcoming days. This is undoubtedly shaping up to be an awesome trip with a great group of guys. After picking up our team from the airport, we immediately headed north for the Maine border, our home for the next 10 or so days. We stopped...

NC Blue Ridge Ending on a Bang

Dear Parents, By now I am sure you have all heard what a great trip we had. A week plus of heavy rain before our trip start resulted in some much higher than usual river flows for our trip. Luckily, the rivers dropped into shape right as our trip started, and we could not have asked for any better weather throughout our trip. Our trip consisted of mostly blue skies with only two minor rain showers...

NC Trophy Brook Trout

Pisgah National Forest is one of the few temperate rainforests in the lower 48, so when the forecast calls for two days of strait sunshine you better be ready to take advantage. Our original plan was to enter the backcountry on 6/8, but instead we packed up camp and went searching the backcountry of Pisgah National Forest in search of native southern brook trout on 6/7. NC is home to a lot of well...

Blue Ridge Update 1

Hi Everyone! Sorry for not getting an update out yesterday — we’ve been busy setting up camp and getting out onto the water! Yesterday we got everyone into camp and set up tents for our stay along the world famous Davidson river. After unpacking we made burgers at camp for dinner and got down to the river and got a few bites fishing the evening. This morning we woke up to a beautiful day and...

Backpacking without the Pack

Have you wanted to fish the high alpine lakes and secret creeks of Rocky Mountain National Park? Does carrying a heavy pack full of supplies sound too strenuous for you? Well, we have the perfect solution, let the llamas carry the load! This summer we are adding Llama packing trips in Rocky Mountain National Park to our growing list of adventures and expeditions. This trip isn’t just for teens and...

Final Scouting Trip to Mexico

This summer we are absolutely thrilled to be offering our first ever international expedition to the Permit capital of the world: Ascension Bay in Mexico. This unique and exciting trip is perfect for all levels of fly anglers. Experienced saltwater anglers will appreciate the wide availability of species of fish to target on a daily basis. Knowledgeable freshwater anglers will find the expansive...

2017 Video Edits

A lot of participants and trip leaders bring their GoPro cameras on our trips. But most of the time that video gets filed away on their computers. In 2017 we were lucky to have some passionate participants and trip leaders who recorded some great video. Then they spent hours of their free time this fall sorting through it all and editing it down into some beautiful short videos. Take a look below...

2017 Holiday Gift Guide

We usually ask friend of LFFE and Orvis NYC fly fishing manager, Rob Ceccarini, for help with our holiday gift guide. This year we decided to ask someone with a behind the scene perspective of our programs. Morgan Krell is a senior in high school living in NYC. In addition to being a two-time LFFE alum, he is a sales associate at the NYC Orvis store, and his love for fly fishing has been...

Summer 2017 Grand Finale

What a few days it has been! Our final Yellowstone Expedition of the summer wrapped up today with what was literally a once in a lifetime grand finale. After finishing off our time in Yellowstone with some spectacular fishing in the Lamar Valley we made our way back south to Jackson, WY for an action packed three days. Our first day back in Jackson we started with a trip to the Teton Rec Center. A...

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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