In the 1950’s I started to fish the Salt River in Wyoming with my brothers and my father. My father had several bamboo fly rods with automatic reels. Those bamboo rods are how I learned to fish. The rods came with two tips so that if you broke one, you always had a spare. As boys will, we broke the tip several times so we just kept patching them by moving the tip lower and lower until we were soon fishing with a 6’ fly rod instead of an 8’ rod.
From that beginning I have had the opportunity to fish most of the rivers from North Alaska to Southern Chile. I have been asked many times which river I prefer and my answer is always the same, “My favorite is the river that I am on at the time.” I have found that I really don’t have a favorite, I like them all. I have fond memories of so many good experiences on many different rivers.
Fly-fishing has been the method of fishing in the Hyde family for 6 generations. It is still the preferred choice of fishing for most of us. My grandkids have taken up the sport and have become very accomplished with the fly rod and also rowing our drift boats. This is especially nice, so that their grandfather can get a little fishing in with them.
Drift boat manufacturing came naturally to me as I spent many of my early years building airplanes and learning about the dynamics of flight. I have been involved in the great outdoors all of my life and know personally how demanding the rivers of the world can be. My first and foremost goal is to build the strongest, safest, most maneuverable drift boats to ensure the safety of our customers. With my son and granddaughter, we now have three generations in the boat business. The staff at Hyde is committed to making your fly fishing experiences the most pleasurable, and we hope to see you on the great rivers of the world in a Hyde drift boat.
Please give us a call and see the difference our employees can make in helping your decision to purchase your next drift boat. We hope to see you soon on the river.