Voice of the River

Meet the Great Gallatin Guide-Off Guides

Angler’s Oath: Do no harm. Take only photos, leave only wakes. Keep your lines tight. Tell tall tales.

The Great Gallatin Guide-Off pairs master fly fishing guides with people who want to have a good time, catch fish, and support a healthy Gallatin River for future generations! Win your favorite guide by bidding for him or her online. The winning bidder will fish with a winning guide on Saturday, July 1st.

To enter the Great Gallatin Guide-Off:

  • Pick your winning guide
  • Be the biggest bidder for the winning guide online: CLICK HERE! Bidding closes at 5pm on Friday, June 30
  • Meet your guide at the Big Sky Town Center Park Gallatin River Task Force tent on Saturday, July 1st between 1 – 1:15pm
  • Return to Town Center Park by 3:30pm for the Casting Competition, hosted by IFF Caster Dok Arvanites
  • Be crowned the Great Gallatin Client & Guide-of-the-Year!

Meet the Guides

John Sniscak

Defending Champion

Wanna have a good time, support river conservation, AND catch fish? This is your man! John Sniscak is an 18 veteran of the guiding profession. All of that time has been spent teaching people how to fish for trout on the waters of southwest Montana and Yellowstone National Park. His willingness and ability to use any and all techniques and ideas that he’s learned over the years to make people’s fishing trips fun makes him jump out from the school of Big Sky guides. He lives in the community with his wife Sandi, stepson Nikoli, and dog Zeus. He likes to play hockey, camp, fish, and ski in his free time.

“There aren’t very many rivers anywhere in the world–like the Gallatin–that have such excellent fishing along their entire length, and the length being so vast … and the fishing is so accessible to everybody. Not only that, but the variety and stark differences of the Gallatin’s character as it moves along is second to none.”

– John Sniscak on the Gallatin River

Bert Horsley

Fresh Face

Land the freshest catch in the net: New-comer Bert Horsley! Bert is originally from Virginia, where he grew up fishing waters in the central and southwestern parts of the state. He started fishing with bait and spinners, but was introduced to fly fishing and never looked back. A graduate of the University of Richmond, he taught high school in Virginia for six years before moving to Montana where he currently teaches.

As an educator he is passionate about seeing people learn and experience new things and is patient throughout this process. He loves finding new places and water to fish, but also enjoys time fishing familiar waters. Along with fishing, he also enjoys tying and spends a good deal of time doing so through the winter. Bert lives in Belgrade with his wife Rhiannon and two daughters, Hayden and Delaney. Along with fishing he loves time with his family enjoying the outdoors and pleasures of living in Montana.

Lindsay Koenig

Trout Princess

Set the hook on returning Great Gallatin Guide, Lindsay Koenig! Last year Lindsay helped the ladies of Big Sky Vacation Rentals land lots of fish and captured the moments with beautiful photos. Lindsay knows the waters of the Gallatin, high and low flows, like the back of her hand and has fished these waters since she was a small fry. And if you’re lucky, her pup Juju Baetis will join you and take you to her secret fishing hole.

Adam Skaggs

Veteran Guide

Adam has fished the waters of the Gallatin longer than he can remember. Adam is a veteran guide of East Slope Outdoors and knows every nook, cranny, and eddy of the river. When Adam isn’t fishing the blue ribbon waters of the Gallatin, he is playing with the big fish in the salty waters of Florida. If you want to land big fish and big tales, Adam is your man!

Don’t Forget to Follow these Guide-lines

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