Web Design in Missoula for Outfitters Whose Trips Change With the River

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

At 2 p.m. on the Blackfoot, a booked afternoon float turns into a problem the website did not know about, because Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks called hoot-owl restrictions that morning. Web design in Missoula for a fly shop or an outfitter has to treat the river as data, not as scenery in a banner photo. This page builds a status board, one row per river and three states per row, and shows the trip page each state turns on, then what the site costs. Progression is based in New York, works with Missoula businesses remotely, and offers on-site sessions on request.

Two o’clock on the Blackfoot

A guest booked a half day on the Blackfoot weeks ago. The float leaves at one. At seven that morning the fishing rules for that stretch changed, and the trip page still says the afternoon is open. Both versions of the page below are hypothetical.

Only one version of the page should exist, and it should be the one that is true today. If the old page stays live next to the new one, a guest will book from whichever one search shows first.

Web design in Missoula starts with what the river is doing today

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks keeps a Current Restrictions and Closures page for the lands and waterbodies it manages and says its map is updated four times a day. Fishing and waterbody restrictions are listed there. A site that sells trips should treat that page as the source of truth and keep its own status in step with it.

A hoot-owl restriction is a daily limit on fishing hours. The Daily Montanan reported on July 29, 2026 that FWP added daily hoot-owl restrictions prohibiting fishing from 2 p.m. to midnight on a list of waters, and said the restrictions are intended to prevent excessive fish mortality due to angling when water temperatures are warm.

These are the conditions as reported on that date. They change, and they are the reason the board on this page exists. Check FWP’s page for today’s.

Why not copy FWP’s page into the site?

A copy goes stale the day it is pasted. Link to FWP’s page next to your own status and let a person confirm each change on your side.

The status board

The board has one row per river and three states per row. Each state sets what the trip page says and what it stops selling. A person changes a state, and the pages follow.

Who changes the board

One named person, with a backup for days off. They read FWP’s page, change the status and write the time. No script should change a status on its own.

• Name the person who checks FWP each morning in season.
• Name a backup for days off.
• Give both a login to change the board and nothing else.
• Record the time and the name each time a status changes.
• Keep a printed copy of the rules for the phone.

Where the board shows up

On the home page, on every trip page for that river, in the booking flow, and in the confirmation email. A status that appears in one place and not another is as bad as no status.

• A banner on the home page when any river is restricted.
• A status line at the top of each trip page.
• A note in the cart for booked dates on that river.
• A line in the confirmation email.
• A pinned post on social channels, written from the same status.

What a site with a river board costs

Cost depends on the number of trip pages, the booking system and how much you want the board to change on its own. A small site with a hand-edited status is a modest project. A site with deposits, a calendar and email follows is a larger one.

Market bands for the site

Bands run from the typical low to the published high.

What a Missoula site’s scope costs at Progression, as listed

These are the fixed-scope prices on our website design and development page that suit a fly shop or an outfitter.

We list no Montana premium and no price per river. Our web design for small business page explains what moves a quote, and a quote follows a written scope.

The license line on every page that sells a trip

Montana’s rule on outfitters, ARM 24.171.2301, lists unprofessional conduct. Among the items for an outfitter, it names failing, when advertising services, to clearly designate the outfitter’s registered business name or personal name and the outfitter’s license number.

In site terms, that means a footer and a trip card that carry both items, on every page that sells a trip. Put them in a shared part of the site, so a new page cannot go live without them.

The same rule lists, for guides and guide applicants, advertising services to the general public as unprofessional conduct. If you work with guides, ask the Board of Outfitters how the rule applies to a guide’s own page or profile, and keep the advertising in the outfitter’s name.

• Put the registered name and license number in the footer.
• Repeat both on each trip card and booking page.
• Use the same wording as on the license.
• Check the line after every redesign.
• Ask the Board of Outfitters about anything near the edge.

Does a guide’s page need the same line?

Ask the Board of Outfitters. The rule treats advertising by guides to the general public as unprofessional conduct, so the safe route is to advertise under the outfitter’s name and license.

The morning trip page versus the afternoon one

When a river goes hoot-owl, the afternoon trip needs a new offer. The page has three honest choices: move the float to the morning, shift to another stretch, or offer a refund or a new date.

• Never promise a section that is closed.
• State the change in the first line of the trip page.
• Keep the morning version of the page ready, so the switch takes minutes.
• Offer the guest a choice by email the same morning.
• Keep the old trip page out of the index while the notice is in force.

Can a page promise a hoot-owl day will be fine?

No. Say what the restriction is and what you are offering instead. FWP can change a status again.

Bookings that cross a closure

A guest paid in March for a date in August, and in August a stretch closes. The booking system needs a defined state for that case, so the messaging is not improvised on the day.

• Flag any booking on a river whose status has changed.
• Send the guest a message the same morning with the options.
• Keep the options short: new time, new stretch, new date or refund.
• Record the guest’s reply on the booking.
• Hold deposits as the booking terms state, and do not promise more.

Write the booking terms in plain words before the season, and ask counsel to look at them. This page offers no legal wording for refunds or deposits.

What if the guest was already on the river?

Tell the guide the new rules by phone first, and then the guest. The page can wait until the people on the water are informed.

Winter, when the river is quiet

From November to March, a trip site has a different job. Fewer people book, and those who do are planning ahead. Use the quiet months to change the pages that were hard to change in season.

• Rewrite trip pages with what the season taught you.
• Test the booking flow on a phone.
• Update the license line and the footer after any change of business details.
• Add off-season pages: gift certificates, gear, fly tying and next year’s dates.
• Archive the status board and set every river to open for the new season.

Should the status board stay up in winter?

Keep it, set to open, with the date. A board that disappears and reappears confuses guests, and a board with a date shows that someone is paying attention.

What should a guest see before they book?

Guests decide on the first screen. A short block above the trip description keeps a guest from booking something the river will not allow.

• The river’s current status, with the date and time it was confirmed.
• A link to FWP’s restrictions page.
• What changes about the trip if the river is hoot-owl.
• What you offer if a section is closed.
• Your registered business name and license number.
• A phone number that someone answers in season.

A brief for your season

Copy the card into a document and fill it in before the season. An outfitter that starts from a completed brief can have the board built before the water warms.

Send the finished brief with a link to your current site. Our website design and development page describes the build that follows, and our web design by city page shows how the work differs from one market to the next.

Related services and guides

Pages that sit beside this board:

• Website design and development
• Web design by city
• Web design for small business
• SEO services

Frequently asked questions