Fantastic location and staff. Off the beaten track and secluded. The fishing was tremendous and guides just as good. Try a horseback ride in between fishing and marvel at the fields of purple fire weed. The staff were cool and accommodated dietary needs. Oh and did I say the fishing was awesome? Can't wait to go back. read more

The Spotted Bear Ranch is an Orvis endorsed fly fishing ranch / bed & breakfast in Montana within the Bob Marshall Wilderness, closet town is Whitefish MT. The area is gorges, surrounded by pine trees, rough terrain through most of this area. The main lodge where the cooking and dining was located it over looked the South Fork of the Flathead River. The river has native west slope cutthroat and big bull trout. The fly of choice is the atomic ant, the water is so cold and pure in this area that rarely are there fly hatches, well at least the time we were there. The ranch backs into a National Forrest, where you cannot use any motorized vehicle, you can only hike or horse back into to fly fish. They do have a side road that will take the Fly fishing guides up half way up the river, where they will set in a float boat to fly fish. The guides here are very good, they know there stuff. I witnessed some of the best casting in years here. On a lunch break we stopped, and out of the boat one of the guides was backed up to a cliff that rose two hundred feet above him, yet he could make these cast out to the front and his back casts where going straight above him. That brought tears to my eyes, in true joy seeing that, I thought I could cast. Now if you have ever gone through an Orvis home decorating catalog, which is what the inside of these cabins, was filled with, Orvis lamps, bedspreads, towels to soaps, just unbelievable. IT reminded me of something Ralph Loren would put together. If you do go here, set aside a few days to go up to Glacier National Forrest, well worth it. The food was very great, but what I remember was the beauty of the area, the great customer service from the ranch hands, guides and staff. The fly fishing was just more than very good, it was off the chart. Thank you Spotted Bear Ranch, what a great spot for a guy to spend time with his dad! Thank you! read more