Hyde Pro Staff

H. Clay Aalders taught himself how to flyfish almost 20 years ago on his Uncle’s bass pond in Ohio. After graduating from Kenyon College, Clay worked at an outfitting shop in Cleveland while guiding for steelhead trout on the Lake Erie tributaries in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Following graduate school, he moved to Idaho where he built Hyde Drift Boats and guided on the South Fork of the Snake River.

Clay now lives in Knoxville with his wife Niki and their Labrador retriever Billie Holiday. He opened Smoky Mountain Gilles in 2007. He is a graduate of an Orvis Endorsed Guide School in Colorado and has over 6 years of guiding experience.