Multi-Day Rafting Trip | Part 2

Now is the time to start dreaming of water lapping on the side of the raft, sun-soaked days looking for the next lips to rip, and scrumptious food around an open flame. Multi-day rafting has become our favorite way to vacation and get away. Last summer we got the privilege of pulling a Smith River Permit and launched on June 26th, 2022.

It was a weird flow year in that May was super dry and lots of early trips didn't have enough flows to float, but we hit it perfect with the peak flows coming within a week of us launching and we caught it as it was coming down. USGS and SnowTel were great resources for keeping an eye on river flows and forecasts.

The Smith is legendary for its fishing and if we had more than 5 days to get down the 60 miles of river we would have stopped and fished so many more holes, but maybe that adds to the preciousness of it. You usually only get a couple good casts into a hole to try and snag a big one. With the conditions we had spinning reels and Panther Martins (black and yellow) were the way to go! Marcus and Anthony probably caught double of what the rest of us did and the biggest. For flies, we had some of our best luck on underwater streamers (white and red) and nymphs. One night a crazy caddis hatch happened, and we were literally eating flies. The fish were going for the emergers more than top water flies.

Anyways, putting in for permits opens up in the New Year so good luck! We'd love to help you plan your trip if you're luck enough to get a permit.

Here are some of the things we used on our trip:
NRS throw bag- https://amzn.to/3UElLoq

We also use the canyon prospector 103 cooler - It is currently not on Amazon and we are not a sponser of there gear but we will always buy this cooler for our rafts no question.

Dry bags of all sizes - https://amzn.to/3BgL09v

Dry bag cooler/this helps with keeping ice for multiple days so put the food and drink you will want for the day in this and keep your cooler closed! - https://amzn.to/3XZKoPr

Mystery Ranch/ Hip monkey turned med bag - https://amzn.to/3HmZcS6

Panther Martin - https://amzn.to/3Bjm1T3

NRS straps - https://amzn.to/3uxpI3z

Dry bag for a family - https://amzn.to/3h25mfX

Hults Bruk Forestry Axe - https://amzn.to/3W0beVD

Lodge cast Iron Lid set - https://amzn.to/3BgYXnM

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Other products that we just like and used on the trip tagged below.

‪@rmrrockymountainrafts‬ ‪@bullkelp‬ ‪@PantherMartinLures‬ ‪@NRSFishing‬ ‪@NRSWEB‬ ‪@CanyonCoolers‬ ‪@tetongravityresearch‬ ‪@filson‬ ‪@hultsbrukswedishaxes4875‬
#montana #simplelivingmontana #rafting #backcountry #simpleliving #adventure #couplesthattraveltogether #familyvlog