Small streams, Fall Fishing and Randolph Scott It is cool this morning, more September than August. I am watching the 1958 movie, Buchanan Rides Alone sta rring Randolph Scott, where the bad guys will all eat a .44 before the movie ends. My idea of summer time bliss: a Randolph Scott move in the morning and hopper fishing […]
Continue reading "Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana" »Category: Healing Waters Lodge
Healing Waters Lodge is a fly fishing lodge, located in southwest Montana in the heart of the Ruby valley between the towns of Twin Bridges and Sheridan and approximately 28 miles north of Dillon. We are literally surrounded by mountain ranges, conservation minded landowners, and prolific trout habitat that includes spring creeks, streams, and rivers such as the Beaverhead, Big Hole, Jefferson, Madison, and Ruby.
The original Healing Waters building (main lodge) was built in 1891 in Sheridan, Montana. It was intended to be the first hospital in Sheridan which meant that it had a surgery, living quarters for the doctor and a couple of rooms for patients. Through the years the building went through a number of different iterations and its last life in Sheridan was as a family residence with a brick façade. In the mid 1980’s, Jim and Sara Cox bought the old brick house, stripped the bricks from the wooden frame and moved the original 1891 wooden frame onto its current location on 20 acres among the cottonwoods and bordered by Wisconsin Creek. For the next two years the Coxes lovingly restored the old hospital with stone quarried locally in the Twin Bridges area, hand hewn timbers from western Montana and hardwood floors from their original family farm in Pennsylvania. Because the original building was a hospital and it was moved to the banks of the small pond near Wisconsin Creek, the Coxes named their newly restored home, Healing Waters Estate. In the late 1980’s Jim and Sara Cox moved to South Carolina and put Healing Waters Estate up for sale.
Fly fishing outfitter, Greg Lilly (son of famous fly fisherman and conservationist, Bud Lilly) recognized the excellent location of Healing Waters Estate with regard to easy access to the area’s blue ribbon trout streams and he and wife, Janet, purchased it from Jim and Sara Cox in 1996. The Lilly’s worked diligently to fulfill their vision of converting the estate buildings into a fly fishing lodge and on April 15, 1997, the first guest arrived at Healing Waters Lodge. Greg and Janet Lilly kept the name Healing Waters because fly fishing is considered by many practitioners to be “healing to the soul”. For six seasons the Lilly’s strived for excellence in providing a fly fishing, lodging and dining experience that would truly send their guests home with renewed energy and a fresh outlook on life.
In 2002, the Lilly’s sold Healing Waters Lodge to the Sywassink family. The Sywassink’s operated the lodge for four years and then put the lodge up for sale and moved on to other business interests. Greg and Janet Lilly and partners Bill and Mary Kemph, leased and operated the business from the Sywassinks for the following six years. The combined talents of the Lilly’s and Kemph’s provided their guests with an excellent cadre of fly fishing guides, an endless variety of fly fishing location opportunities, access to fly fish on private ranches, walk-wading, floating, and floating local rivers that Bucket Lists are made of.
At the end of the 2013 season the Lilly’s retired from the business and Mike and Laura Geary purchased Healing Waters Lodge from the Sywassinks. Based in Helena, Mike Geary has successfully owned and operated Lewis & Clark Expeditions Fly Fishing Outfitters for over 25 years and is the largest outfitter on the coveted Smith River, provided a guide service on the Missouri, Blackfoot, and Upper Clark Fork. The Geary’s moved their business from Helena to Twin Bridges and also operate Healing Waters Lodge. For two seasons, Bill Kemph, owner of Lilly & Kemph Outfitters, provided the guide service for Healing Waters Lodge and at the end of the 2015 season, sold his fly fishing outfitting business to Mike Geary.
Excellence is always our goal. Whether you are a guest of Healing Waters Lodge or on our five day float trip down the Smith River, our goal is to provide you with the best possible fly fishing vacation experience. We believe we have excellent fly fishing guides and the best possible fly fishing locations available on the planet.
Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana – Smith River Float Trips
Healing Waters Lodge is an Orvis endorsed fly fishing lodge with a stellar reputation and we are also the largest fly fishing outfitter on Montana’s coveted, Smith River. Mike Geary continues to successfully own and operate, Lewis & Clark Expeditions, for over 25 years. Our Smith River fly fishing float trip is 59 river miles […]
Continue reading "Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana – Smith River Float Trips" »Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana
Last week we had the good fortune of hosting Tammy and John, guests of Harlan (who has been coming to Healing Waters Lodge for 15 years) and his wife, Amy, all soon to become “in-laws” as their children marry. Orvis review written by John and Tammy: “We went for the friendships, we stayed for the […]
Continue reading "Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana" »Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana
So it begins high in the Beaverhead Mountains, the Big Hole River flows for 153 miles through a fly fishing wonderland filled with Brook, Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat trout. The Big Hole is the last remaining habitat for fluvial Arctic Grayling in the contiguous United States. Along the Big Hole corridor are fishing access sites […]
Continue reading "Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana" »Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana with Healing Waters Lodge
Final day of hosting a great group from Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, guests, guides, and volunteers. Pictured Bottom row left to right: Dudley, Terry, Tony, Gary, Rick, Tony, Laura, Tom, Luke, Johnathan, Catherine, Gary. Top row right to left: Ray, Rick, Eric, John, Mike, Troy, Bart and Dr. Clark.
Continue reading "Fly Fishing in Southwest Montana with Healing Waters Lodge" »Fishing, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, and More Fishing
At Healing Waters Lodge we are intimately involved with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc., a non-profit organization founded by Retired Navy Captain Ed Nicholson. Below are testimonials from two friends of ours who assisted us last summer at the lodge working with disabled veterans. They also represent the quality and character of the […]
Continue reading "Fishing, Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, and More Fishing" »Fly Fishing the Big Hole River with Healing Waters Lodge in Southwest Montana
Big Hole River Description So it begins high in the Beaverhead Mountains, the Big Hole River flows for 153 miles through a fly fishing wonderland filled with Brook, Rainbow, Brown and Cutthroat trout. The Big Hole is the last remaining habitat for fluvial Arctic Grayling in the contiguous United States. Along the Big Hole corridor […]
Continue reading "Fly Fishing the Big Hole River with Healing Waters Lodge in Southwest Montana" »Fishing Over the Immortal Nakedness of Montana
Fishing Over the Immortal Nakedness of Montana “The sea, autumn mildness, islands bathed in light, fine rain spreading a diaphanous veil over the immortal nakedness of Greece. Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean Sea.” A passage from the novel, Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis. […]
Continue reading "Fishing Over the Immortal Nakedness of Montana" »Fly Fishing the Beaverhead River
Over 200 years ago, Lewis and Clark discovered the Beaverhead River hoping to find a Northwest Passage. William Clark was overheard saying, “Oops” when they realized their portage over the Rockies was going to be an extra 250 miles. So it goes…. Today, the Beaverhead River flows out of Clark Canyon Reservoir Dam creating one […]
Continue reading "Fly Fishing the Beaverhead River" »Montana Snow Pack Survey = Fly Fishing and more
Healing Waters Lodge and Lewis & Clark Expeditions Smith River fly fishing trips depend on water, of course. Online, we follow the abundance of information posted on the Montana Natural Resource Conservation Services Snow Survey site. The information is gathered by the NRCS National Water and Climate Center and other monitoring organizations and placed on this site […]
Continue reading "Montana Snow Pack Survey = Fly Fishing and more" »