Aaron and Rachel’s love of fly fishing and the beauty of the outdoors was engrained in them as children. Aaron’s outdoor adventures began in childhood and continued as he pursued guiding Colorado rivers at age eighteen. Rachel learned to tie flies on her father’s lap before kindergarten and started managing his fly-fishing business before she graduated college. Aaron and Rachel spent their honeymoon floating and fishing the Flaming Gorge of the Green River, then they settled into a mountaintop fire lookout cabin for their first “home.” They made Sandpoint, Idaho, home twenty years ago and have fallen in love with the mountains and rivers of this beautiful region. Aaron has extensive experience guiding on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River and the Main Salmon, the Kootenai, the Clark Fork as well as the Lochsa and Coeur d’Alene Rivers. Much of his free time is spent floating and fishing rivers closer to home, such as the Clark Fork and the Kootenai.
Aaron and Rachel have more recently focused on leading their own daughters, Addy and Emi, to love the outdoors as well. They take joy in skiing, hiking, fishing, and biking as a family. In 2017 Aaron and Rachel stumbled upon a McKenzie River wooden drift boat in need of major repair. They knew it would be the perfect boat to get their young family fishing together on the river. After restoring this boat and experiencing its beautiful craftsmanship and smoothness on the water, they dreamed of sharing the adventure beyond their family, and that dream blossomed into Long Drift Outfitters. The beauty and elegance of a classic wooden drift boat is the perfect match for fly fishing on the Kootenai River.
The Kootenai River is our main river that we enjoy fly fishing on in the northern Panhandle of Idaho. The Kootenai is often described as a hidden gem, which means you won’t be crowded by other anglers while fishing the river. The Kootenai holds Redband Rainbow Trout, Cutthroat Trout, and Bull Trout. The river also holds Kokanee, Burbot and Sturgeon. The river is a classic dry-fly fishery that is best fished from a drift boat due to its size.
