About Us
Beartooth Flyfishing started with Dan Delekta. Dan has been an avid fly fisherman from the age of 10. Throughout all of his years, tying flies and catching trout on them became his passion. Dan began building rods in 1975 and was selling his own hand tied leaders shortly after in 1982. This is where the names Beartooth Fly Rods™, Beartooth Leaders™, and Beartooth Flyfishing™ originated. In 1984, he found a stretch of land on the world renowned Madison that called to him. With friends and family, Dan designed and built the lodge and fly shop in 1989 and opened the Upper Madison River location in 1990.
The location is where dreams are made of right on the banks of the Upper Madison River in the middle of the trophy trout section. There is an incredible selection of flies in the fly shop, several thousand different patterns including Dan’s own designs of which there are now over 1,000, Delektable Flies™. We are known for being a shop with more fly variety and quantity than any shop we know. This fly shop is where Dan’s imagination and innovation came to life.
Community and Care
Beartooth Flyfishing has always been about doing the right thing, taking care of people who want to have an adventure in the Madison Valley, and showing them methods and techniques to help their fishing and enhance their adventure. We strive to provide the best customer service in every way we can.
Dan and his wife Nancy manage the shop and lodge. The shop offers many different services which includes guided fly fishing on a variety of rivers including the Upper and Lower Madison, Big Hole, Beaverhead, Jefferson, Missouri, Yellowstone, Stillwater, and Big Horn. The Beartooth Flyfishing guide crew is seasoned with over 20 guides to draw from and with Dan as the outfitter with his 30 plus years of guiding experience anchoring the crew. In addition to the retail business Dan and Nancy manage a wholesale business selling Beartooth Leaders and Delektable Flies to other businesses.
John “Grandpa” Delekta
Dan Delekta
Nancy Alston Delekta
Marty “The Montajun” Authement
Ryan Ongley
Alexandria “Allie” Delekta
Dan “DJ” Dedman Jr.
John “Grandpa” Delekta
Dan’s father, John “Grandpa” Delekta, began fishing when he was around 6. His interest in the outdoors led him to spend almost 40 years in the sporting goods business in upstate New York. During his early adulthood he was a spin fisherman, but later transitioned into fly fishing. Grandpa retired in 1990, the same year that Dan opened the Beartooth Flyfishing Lodge. Also in 1990, Grandpa began spending every Summer at the Lodge, and had since become a full-time Montana resident. Along with fishing the Madison River, he also remained busy doing most of the packaging for the Beartooth Flyfishing product line. Even in his 80’s,
Grandpa worked almost every day, and was an invaluable member of the Beartooth Flyfishing team. He was noted for his merchandising acumen and the well known fly “six-packs” he created and helped maintain for the shop.
Grandpa really loved the time he spent fishing with his son and Nancy. He had also been with Dan and Nancy to the Rogue River in Oregon for steelhead fishing and to Andros Island in the Bahamas for great saltwater fishing. It’s remarkable to consider that Grandpa and his son fished together for almost 50 years; a unique accomplishment in this day and age. Grandpa is now part of our loving family and fishing memories and will be missed. When we sit on the porch in his chair where he sat with Tippet by his side, we will be thinking of Grandpa.
Policies
Beartooth Flyfishing’s customer service goal is simple: We are committed to providing our customers total satisfaction. Every-time. Guaranteed. Contact us at info@beartoothflyfishing.com or call 406-682-7525 during our regular business hours which are most days 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (Mountain Time). We do have longer hours during the summer season.
Please feel free to drop us a line to share your thoughts on the site, all comments welcomed.