North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine APRIL 2017 | Page 10

A GUIDE TO FLOATING: THE SMITH RIVER by SAM WIKE & JAKE ENGLAND | photos by JAKE ENGLAND 10 I’ve been lucky enough to float the Smith River in Montana quite a few times, and it’s still fun to plan the 58.9 mile drift down the limestone waterslide. However, there aren’t too many, if any, resources out there that actually show and explain each of the campgrounds you can choose from for your journey. So, this is our attempt to break them down for you one by one. If you do decide to float the Smith at 100 CFS (which is not recommended), then you will probably have the same amount of time that Jake and I had to literally write and photograph each of the campgrounds as you grind down your kayak on the salmon fly and caddis casings lining the river bed. Until someone ignores my advice and does it anyways, this is what I’ve got. 11