Journal of a Fisherman
By: LaMoyne Hyde
My name is LaMoyne Hyde, being a descendant of many generations of fisherman and a history of ancestors woven into the early movement to the west from Vermont to New York to Ohio to Missouri and ending up in Wyoming in the 1860’s. From my youth, growing up in western Wyoming, I have been infatuated with water and everything that lives in it. I grew up with some of the great rivers right in my back yard, like the Snake River, the Salt River, the Teton, the Henry’s Fork and the list goes on.
My first introduction to fishing came from my Father and Grandfather Hyde of which were both great fisherman. They were some of the first pioneers to move into the small town of Auburn Wyoming. As soon as I finished with the chores around the farm my brothers and I would head for the river to catch breakfast as fish were plentiful and all of my family loved fresh fish with potatoes and eggs to start the day.
As I grew older my passions turned primarily to fly fishing and my perimeters grew to rivers in Montana, Idaho, Utah as will as any other river I could get time and money to visit.
My fishing partners turned to my sons as they grew older. They also became very accomplished fisherman. After my family was raised my wife J.Ann decided to take up fly fishing and soon became harder to get off the river than any of the rest of our family including the boys.
For 25 years I ran a business unrelated to fishing just so earn enough money to go fishing and finally after that period of time I decided to slow down. I bought a big boat to run the ocean in south east Alaska. It was fun for about a couple of weeks, fishing every day but I can tell you that is too much fishing all at one time for this man so upon returning to our home in Idaho my wife and I decided to get serious into the fishing business so I started to design a drift boat that was really designed to have all the creator comforts that a fisherman could want and to develop a drift boat that would handle all the water of the world. In my younger years I had been involved with family in building crop duster airplanes and later learned to fly so learning aerodynamics and knowing aerodynamics and hydrodynamics were used the same principles of physics I used the principles of both to develop my own drift boat using these techniques. When I started out I was only intending to sell enough fishing equipment to be able to write off my fishing trips, but I got carried away and thus started the beginning of Hyde Drift Boats and the rest is history.
Hyde Drift Boats name has become common to the rivers of the world and I have been fortunate to broaden my fishing trips to rivers all over the world and yes I can still write off my fishing trips and meet some of the greatest people in the world!
With this introduction I have decided to write some of my travels in journal form however this is not all of my fishing trips but some of the ones that stand out in my memory. I hope that these journals will entice you to some of the great rivers that I have had the opportunity to visit.
More Recent Articles Coming Soon!
Journal of a Fisherman
Nov 26, 2004
I just returned from a fishing trip to the Bighorn in Montana. I had heard that the Bighorn had slowed down and that the fishing was not as it was a few years ago, will I am here to tell you if it is down I didn’t see it. I pulled into Fort Smith and meet an old friend of mine Scott Stienfelt who is the owner of the Bighorn Fly Shop. We also meet a film crew and the host of the new flyfishing show on Outdoor Network, Mike Pollawski. Mike is a great host and a very good fisherman.
Shortly after arriving we headed for the river to find the surprise of my life. The first fish of the day was a 4-5 lb rainbow, followed by 3-4 small browns and a few rainbows. The next hole we went to produced several large browns in the 3-4 lb range. This was the way the day went. All in all we were on the river for about 5-6 hours and we had a show. This was the shortest amount of time I have ever spent to complete a show acquiring all the footage needed to produce a good quality TV show. We planed to fish the following day but having acquiring all the shots needed I decided to head for home the next morning as it was a 6 hour drive and a storm was setting in.
I was really excited to see the Bighorn River in such great shape and to have the fishing so good again, if it ever really was as bad as the press reported it to be.
I look forward to returning soon.
LaMoyne
Journal of a Fisherman
November 27th 04
Just after Thanksgiving I had the opportunity to go fishing with a long time friend, Scott Stienfelt. I also went with Mike Pollowaski fishing the Bighorn River in Montana to do a show Mike was Hosting. I was excited to go back to the Bighorn as I had not fished it for a number of years. 
I arrived early and found that Scott and Mike were already to go. The weather was cold and nasty on the drive from Idaho Falls, Id that morning and I thought that the day was going to be a waste of time, but as fisherman go, I am no different so I was easily talked into going fishing in the 10 to 20 degree weather. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of fishing that we encountered that day. It usually takes a couple of days to finish a show of this magnitude but the fishing was so good that we had all of the footage in a matter of 5 hours.
I have heard for the last few years that the fishing had declined on the Bighorn so bad that fishing was very difficult to have a good day on the bighorn. Will I am here to tell you that if it was any better I hadn’t seen it that day. We started to fish about 10 am and was off the water by 4 pm. Within the first 15 minutes I had my first fish that was about 4 lbs. and so went the day.
The Bighorn Angler personal was great and knew right where the big ones were and were great to work with. They took extremely good care of us from the first we arrived in Fort Smith.
I look forward to my return again to a river that I have always considered to be one of the great rivers of the West.
I would encourage anyone looking for a place to go fishing soon that they look to the Bighorn as one of their considerations. Boats can be rented or bring your own and enjoy the great people in the Fort Smith area and if you see Scott or any of his staff at the Bighorn Angler tell the Hi for me and maybe if I am lucky I will see you there also.
I look forward to a great season of fishing in the West this year as we are having a great snow year and that means great floating.
I look to see you on the great rivers of the World
LaMoyne
Journal of a Flyfisherman
September 16, 2004
This week I went to the Rogue River in Oregon and meet up with a great friend Steve Bonner. Steve had invited me to come and fish with him for some time but unfortunately the occasion never presented it’s self.
I finally got the occasion and was excited to be able to fish the steelhead in the Rogue and have such an accomplished fisherman as Steve to help me with some pointers of how to catch the elusive steelhead of the Rogue. I tried to use some of the techniques that I used on other rivers and failed to hookup as I 
thought I should so I humbly went to Steve with hat in hand to get some advice. He is a great teacher and was gracious enough to share his knowledge. That put things in motion. Jim Peterson, who runs our flyshop in Idaho really started to catch fish and the fun began. Both of us caught several steelhead which is not an easy thing to do on any river.
The Rogue is a beautiful river and is a must river to fish if your desires are to catch the one fish that always is the master of challenges to fish for. Give Steve a call and he will save you a lot of time keeping you from doing things wrong and getting to the catching quicker.
LaMoyne
Journal of a Flyfisherman
September 7, 2004
Just a short mention of a great experience of going to the finals of the Flyfishing Master. I was invited to the final awards of the Flyfishing Masters program put on by Barrett Productions of Missoula Montana. What a class act this company is and the way they protect the integrity of the sport of flyfishing in their shows. I have been involved with them in several of their shows and know they are wanting to promote the flyfishing sport along with protecting the environmental issues that we all love.
I watched the friendships that was developed during the competitions, but most of all I think that competitions is probably not the right word as all of the participants did as much cheering for each other it didn’t look like any competition I had ever seen.
Hyde Drift Boats gave a boat away to the winner of the largest fish measured in the finals and everyone was as excited for him as if they had won the boat.
That is the way I have found flyfisherman to be they seem to be a cut above the average and I feel it a privilege to be numbered as one of them.
My compliments to John Barrett who has done as much for promoting the sport of flyfishing and a class act TV flyfishing programs as any person I know.
LaMoyne
Journal of a Flyfisherman
May 17, 2004
North Platte in Wyoming
I am originally from southwestern Wyoming so I am quite familiar with Wyoming at least I thought I was but I learned a will kept secret in my own home state.
I have traveled the west and have just plain missed one of the premium flyfishing rivers of the west. I grew up in Wyoming and have fished most of it one time or another, but I guess that my waypoints and radar has been set wrong. A quiet little river on the east side of Wyoming just south of Casper is a section of the Platte River I have not fished until the last week of May 2004.
My brother was the game warden in the area years ago and said that the river, he didn’t think was very good but I am here to tell you that it was great!!!!!!
I didn’t have much time to fish but my son Matt and I took some time to while in the area and decided to fish for a while and was we rewarded. We caught about 40 fish and the average was 2-4 lbs. and full of fight. We caught rainbow and cutbows mostly and one sucker. Most of the fish we caught was on size 20 emergers below a San Juan worm size 12. Most of the fish were very healthy, some of course had recently spawn so they were a little skinny but most were just like footballs.
We were very will taken care and equipped by the Ugly Bug Flyshop who have shops in Casper and at Alcova just so of Casper. We meet Mark at the his flyshop and after a little persuasion consented to fish with us the for the day and know his stuff. Mark was a lot of fun to fish with and knew the honey holes, which Matt and I quickly took advantage of. I also caught a few on a Blue Winged Olive pattern. All in all it was a great experience and I have had a tough time keeping Matt from making too quick of a return, but I think I am loosing the battle as he already has a date for a return.
This area is on the old Oregon Trail that in its prime had over 70,000 people in covered wagons and handcarts traveled to west and west coast destinations. Some traveled to seek their fortune in the gold fields of California, others to the rich farm lands of Oregon and others seeking religious freedom traveled these trails to the Great Salt Lake. This was also an area with large deposits of petrified wood and it can be found laying on the ground throughout most of the Wyoming desert.
All in all what an interesting area to visit and I shall return.
I hope to see you on the great rivers of the world.
LaMoyne Hyde
Journal of a Flyfisherman
May 12, 2004
Two days on the Green River in Utah
My wife and I had the opportunity to visit a great old favorate fishery, the Green River below Flaming Gorge Lodge and was meet by Rod Bowden, one of the Flaming Gorge Lodge old favorite guides and a personal friend for many years and is also a guide for Hyde Outfitters on the Henry’s Fork in Idaho. Rod has a vast knowledge for fishing the Green and proved it one more time while my wife and I got the opportunity to fish with him.
They had just raised the river for a flush so the fishing should have been off but if it was off we never noticed it. The weather was extremely cold the first day and not much better the next day but we as fisherman do we went fishing anyway. On the Green it is required to wear a life jacket which normally I wouldn’t have been to excited about but it was so cold everything and anything that stopped the cold I was exciting to wear.
J.Ann started out catching fish from the start and then I started to catch fish also. The fishing stayed consistent for the rest of the 1st day. Most of the fish were small 12” to 14” but they were fun to catch. Most of the time we used a dry indicator fly with an emerger dry about size 20 to 22 as our second fly. J.Ann and I fortunately had Rod to tie on the small size fly because he could see the eye or he was more skilled as I seldom fish with that small of a fly. J.Ann and I are used to fishing with 10 and 12 size flies so this was a change.
The second day the weather moderated a little so we could shed some of the clothing and the fish were much more active.
We used most of the same flies until in the afternoon and Rod got us using streamers and a big Munson fly in a size 4 and boy did J.Ann catch some big browns on that fly. I told her that I was bringing them off the bank with my streamer and her fly looked so good that they were leaving my fly for her full meal deal.
Anyway it was great fun and the Lodge people were excellent and food was Great!!!!!!
Deloy and his wife, one of the owners of Flaming Gorge Lodge were great hosts and we very much enjoyed an evening meal with them and great conversation about the area and also we shared stories of running fishing businesses and how we ended up in such a great industry.
The Gorge area has great geological significance as it is the area known for the dinasours, fossils and historical values because of its many Indian artifacts that have been discovered in the area. This a must visit area with beautiful vistas, aquarium clear water and beautiful red rimrock canyon walls.
See you on the great river of the world.
LaMoyne Hyde
Journal of a Fisherman
May 6 and 7, 2004
Many times I go to great lengths to find new water around the world and ignore the great fishing right in my own back door. I took my wife and a guide from our lodge and headed for the lower part of the Henrys Fork of the Snake River. This spring in Idaho has been much colder with a lot of wind. So I was forced to do much of the fishing under the surface. Not my favorite way to fish but I can do it. I look at nymph fishing only when I have to. I know that most flyfisherman would like to fish dries so I am not much different. I am a lot like the statement that was made in movie of Quigley Down Under when Quigley at the end of the show was confronted by the villain. Quigley preferred to use his 45-90 rifle and the villain liked his 6 gun so he thought he had the upper hand with the hand guns, but soon found that Quigley knew how to use the 6 guns also. Anyway Quigley at the end of the show as the villain lay dieing Quigley said “I didn’t say I didn’t know how to use a 6 gun I just said I don’t especially like them.
We did however catch a few good fish and got the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors.
I really like to fish the Henrys Fork as it carves it’s way down through the huge lava rock formations. The Henrys is a river that has intrigued me for years. I started to fishing the Henrys Fork and the famed Box canyon in the late 60s and have been in love with it every since.
The Henrys begains in one of the largest, if not the largest caldera or volcano craters in the world. Scientists have found ashes from this caldera as far away as Nebraska and is part of the Yellowstone volcanic formation.
The Henrys Fork river is famous for its great rainbow fishing and the lower part of the river once it drops off the caldera rim to the valley floor is populated by rainbows, browns and cutthroat trout.
This is a must visit fishery that will keep you coming back or at least haunting you to come back for the rest of your life after you fish it.
See you on the great rivers and water of the world!
LaMoyne
Journal of a Fisherman
1990
One of my favorite trips is several trips I took with my two sons and my brothers to southeastern Alaska. We would load up a small 16’ aluminum on top of the pickup and put a small freezer in the back of the pickup to put the fish in we caught and away we would go. The trip would start in Idaho Falls and go through Calgary Canada then through Banff Park then traveling west to Prince Rupert. At Prince Rupert we would hook up with the Alaska Ma
rine Hwy boats and go north to the little town of Kake Alaska. There is not much there for accommodations so we would try to contact a school teacher and rent their home for a week. This was good for them to make a little money and was great for us. Southeast is one of the best halibut fisheries I know of in Alaska. I learned how to fish the area from one of the local Indians of the area by chance.
One day we were fishing the area and noticed a boat drifting to open ocean so we fished toward the boat as we trolled for halibut out of curiosity as it seemed that the boat was drifting unusual to be fishing. As we approached the boat one of the locals was out fishing and his motor quit working. After attempting to fix it to no avail we pulled him about 10 miles to shore. He was one happy camper to get to shore because the way he was drifting the next stop was Japan and in a 14’ open boat the likelihood of him getting there alive was slim to none so you could only imagine how grateful he was to be safe on shore.
He told me that I could have anything he had to which I quickly responded that I sure would like to know how to catch some of those big halibut I had heard of being caught in the area. He told me to meet him in the morning bright and early and he would show me a place that he had found. He knew the area very will and showed me a couple of great holes that I have marked with my gps. These are the kind of holes you don’t take just anyone. We have kept the where abouts to ourselves but does it have big fish.
I have found that to catch big halibut you need to find a hole in the ocean floor that all the crabs and fish naturally fall in and the halibut just have to set there and get big and fat.
We always enjoyed watching the whales that came to the area to feed on the large schools of herring that is in the area and to watch the eagles feed on the herring also. The whales would bubble feed on the herring. This is done when several whales circle a school of herring and blow bubbles to keep the herring in a tight ball then all together they come up under the herring with there mouths open and fill up on the herring.
The eagles also feed on the herring and look like dive boomers when they come down to pick up the herring.
As you can tell the fishing was only part of the excitement of fishing Alaska. The first time I went fishing to Alaska the person that I went with told me that if I was only going to Alaska to fish I would miss the total Alaska experience. I thought at the time he was crazy, but found him to be totally correct. There is so many things to experience in Alaska!! What a great place to spend some time.
