Bud Lilly

Bud Lilly (1925-2017) was the owner of the Trout Shop in West Yellowstone, Montana as well as an accomplished baseball player, fly fishing guide, and conservationist.

Early life and career in education Walen Francis “Bud” Lilly II was born on August 13, 1925, in Manhattan, Montana, to Violet Collins, a homemaker, and Walen Lilly, a barber. Bud graduated from Manhattan High School in 1942. After serving in the United States Armed Forces, he enrolled in Montana State University in Bozeman in 1946 and earned a bachelor's degree in Applied Science. In 1951, Lilly earned his master's degree in education from the University of Montana in Missoula. teacher in Bozeman and Deer Lodge

Involvement in baseball Bud's father, Bud Sr., was a fan of baseball and taught Bud to play. At age five, Bud received his first bat and glove, and he began playing in sandlot games. At age twelve, Lilly began playing organized baseball, Lilly managed to get a hit on a pitch from the famed player and make it to first base, but got out when he attempted to steal second. to play with the Cincinnati Reds farm team, the Salt Lake City Bees. Instead, with World War II ravaging the country, Lilly joined the military. At the age of twenty, he was third in command, after the captain the officer, meaning that if both the captain and officer had been killed, he would gain command of the ship. In West Yellowstone, he saw the many fisherman who would visit with "rods made by famous rodbuilders, [...] and they taught [him] about fly tying, catch & release, and dry fly fishing." and British Ambassador Sir Peter Ramsbotham. In addition, he supported women's involvement in fly fishing by offering “women-only fishing trips” and assisting in creating “women’s fly-fishing clubs”.

The shop also published several editions of a merchandising catalogue and a fishing map of the area in tandem with California businessman David Bascomb. of lung cancer, and a member of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

Following his work with the Trout Shop, Lilly continued his conservation activism. Lilly's main causes were protecting trout and restoring waterways through preventing overgrazing and extensive logging near headwaters and major bodies of water. Bud also helped assemble the almost 10,000-volume collection of books, manuscripts and personal papers at Montana State University known as the Bud Lilly Trout and Salmonid Initiative. Bud Lilly's papers as well as oral interviews can be found in the Archives & Special Collections section of Montana State University's Library.

Later years After his mother's death in 1994, Lilly remodeled “The Angler’s Retreat,” a lodge in Three Forks, Montana, to create an eighteen-room retreat for fly fishers in Montana. He also founded the Western Rivers Club, an organization he created to “keep his former customers in touch”. Lilly volunteered as a Montana Ambassador, a state-sponsored program to encourage tourism and recreation in the state, and worked as a river keeper for Baker Springs, a land development company near his hometown of Manhattan, Montana.

In his later years, Lilly's vision deteriorated due to macular degeneration, but he continued to fish frequently with friends. He also founded the Warriors and Quiet Waters Foundation, which “brings disabled vets to Montana to introduce them to fly fishing and the therapeutic power of ever-flowing waters”. Bud Lilly died in Bozeman, Montana on January 4, 2017 from heart failure at the age of 91.

Publications Lilly, Bud., and Paul. Schullery. A Trout's Best Friend: The Angling Autobiography of Bud Lilly. 1st ed. Boulder, Colo.: Pruett, 1988. Lilly, Bud., and Paul. Schullery. Bud Lilly's Guide to Fly Fishing the New West. Portland, OR: Frank Amato Publications, 2000. Lilly, Bud., and Paul. Schullery. Bud Lilly's Guide to Western Fly Fishing. Deluxe ed. New York, NY: Nick Lyons Books, 1987. Bud Lilly's Trout Shop. Bud Lilly's Trout Shop: Fly Fishing Catalogue., 1980. Bud Lilly's Trout Shop. Bud Lilly's Tackle Catalogue and Handbook for Western Trout Fishing.