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PROFILE

TERRY HAYDEN

OWNER / MANAGER of HAYDEN REELS

I was born at Terang in Victoria (Australia) in 1948, and I am married (wife's name is Leanne) and have 2 boys (Daniel & Joshua).   I joined the Victorian Police Force in 1967 and that was to be my career.  In 1981 I was involved in a boating accident, which cost me my right leg, my career and my life style.  Over the following several years I tried several career paths, including Outboard Mechanic and Boat Fitter, Diesel Mechanic and in 1985 I became a Commercial Fisherman at Bermagui in New South Wales, rod & reeling tuna for the Japanese Sashimi market amongst other types of fishing.  I gained my Master’s Class V and Marine Engineers Qualifications whilst working in the trade and graduated to Shore Manager and Shore Based Engineer for a fishing company. 

             I have been fishing all my life and have caught most species in our southern climes including a 152kg (334lb) Black Marlin on my own from a 17' boat, a 92kg (203lb) Yellowfin Tuna and I sight fished a small Broadbill Swordfish, which I believe was the highlight of my fishing on conventional gear.  I started Fly Fishing for trout in 1968 and in 1973, caught my first saltwater species on fly.  It was an Australian Salmon of about 1lb, using a #7 weight rod, which I used for trout fishing.  In 1985 I purchased a #9 weight rod and carried it at all times when Commercial Fishing but never targeted any of the larger speedsters of the ocean as the reel I had did not have a drag system, only a clicker pawl. 

To go back a few years, in 1978 I designed a fishing reel with a unique drag system, in that it was similar to the braking system in a car.  In 1994, at the end of my time as a Marine Engineer I was unable to gain employment and decided to go ahead with the design.  I approached a friend, John REID, who owns an Engineering Business near where I live.  I asked if I could use his lathe for a couple of weeks.  When the answer was "yes", I then asked if he could help me to set up the lathe and show me how to work it.  One hundred & fifty-six hours later (Yes, I kept a log of my hours), I had produced my first fishing reel which was a geared centre-pin reel and the comment from John was" I didn't think anybody could do that!"  There were no drawings and I threw away a lot of bits which did not work.  The reel was too labour intensive to produce commercially and I decided to try something else.  Hence the Lever Drag Anti-Reverse fly reel, which I produce today.  The reel of today does not cosmetically resemble the original reel, but the design features have been maintained.

As you can see from the “Making a Hayden Reel” page, I am a one man operation with a passion for producing quality.  There are no Computer Numerically Controlled lathes and high tech equipment, just a very good “Okuma” Tool Room Lathe, a Milling machine, and sundry other necessary tools, plus a passion to produce a unique product which will stand the test of time and abuse. 

My original concept was to produce a product that was “bullet proof”, but not expensive.  I apologise for this but that was not possible.  Producing a World Class Product meant expensive and I got to a stage where I was unable to keep the price within the boundaries that I had previously set.  To keep the price as low as is possible I have now eliminated my Retail Network and sell Direct.

Since I began, I have designed 2 more reels, both Direct Drive and now produce the Anti-Reverse, plus a Large Arbor Direct Drive which recently has been accepted by Temple Fork Outfitters in the USA and is to be manufactured in Korea and marketed world wide by TFO.  The reel is now available for purchase and Temple Fork have been able to do what I could not.  By producing the product in Korea, they are able to offer it at a much lower price than my hand made version, bringing the product totally in line with my original concept of producing a high class product at a much lower price than expected. 

I will continue to produce my reels for those discerning fishermen who want something special, as this is not a job, it is a passion.  I read in a book somewhere that for a job to become a career, you must "Love what you do or do what you love."  I am fortunate as I have both those scenarios and find that I do not need to cast a fly as often as I used to, I just go make a fly reel.  Well, maybe I am not quite that dedicated to making reels!