Dave McIntire, of Irons, needs to get a new dictionary. His definition of retirement is skewed. After an upper management career in sporting goods for the Meijer store chain, McIntire retired to his log home on the banks of the Little Manistee River, a home he and his wife Karen designed and built overlooking the blue [...]

Dave McIntire, of Irons, needs to get a new dictionary. His definition of retirement is skewed.

After an upper management career in sporting goods for the Meijer store chain, McIntire retired to his log home on the banks of the Little Manistee River, a home he and his wife Karen designed and built overlooking the blue ribbon trout stream.

But retirement wasn’t a familiar term for this Muskegon native who soon found a new job—working for himself as the owner and builder of Dry Fly Float Boats. He’s also the production worker, sales staff and designer of his specialized fisherman’s watercraft, which is proving perfect for fly-fishermen floating the fabled trout steams of northern Michigan.

Drawing on his mechanical skills, McIntire builds an average of 40-50 of these two-pontoon float boats in various lengths from 8 to 12 feet, and for one or two passengers.

His design came after trying some other float rigs, canoes, or drift boats on nearby trout waters. “I had a belly boat, but realized that was not the way to fish,” McIntire said. He realized that these streams required something more suited to navigating, hauling, and carrying with less weight and faster launching. On trips out west he saw some other designs for floating, but they were not that well suited to the sometimes winding and narrow trout streams of the region.

In 1990, McIntire produced his first commercial float boat, building six that first season. These were single-person models of 8-foot length. But some wanted the boat to be capable of carrying two people, so he was soon able to offer that style, in several lengths.

The main frames are built of lightweight square aluminum tubing, bent and fitted by McIntire in his shop. These frames hold the two “bladders”—inflated pontoons—that float the craft easily with low displacement so they can carry over both shallow and deep waters.

The anglers are seated just high enough to make casting easy. The frame offers an open area near their feet, so wader-clad anglers can step into the stream and cast while standing in the shallow waters—but with the safety of the boat around them.

“This allows us to accommodate anglers, especially older anglers who may have less balance, stamina, or wading ability,” McIntire explains. “They can float, then make a few standing casts here and there with the boat to steady them.”

His design also allows for many specialized accommodations. He has made one suited to a wheelchair user; others for people who can use a walker right up to the float boat and get in. “These adaptations allow many anglers whose wading days were behind them to continue enjoying the fishing streams after their infirmities had left them out of the sport.”

And, other sportsmen are finding these float boats suited to their type of water experiences. “We sell some to duck hunters—they are perfect for getting into small ponds, pothole waters, and river areas where duck hunting is legal. Because they are so light, they are little trouble to use. Just pull one up into the reeds or cattails, and you are set to hunt.” McIntire’s 8-foot boat weighs just 47 pounds, and the two-man 12-footer just 74 pounds, so launching, loading and hauling it is easy—often a one-man job.

For duck hunters, McIntire offers an added dog ramp that fits on the boat frame and allows a retriever to enter from the water without an over-the-transom hassle.

Karen McIntire helps makes this boat business a family enterprise. She sews the camouflage pontoon covers and covers on the angler seats.

Because he sells his Dry Fly Float Boats directly, McIntire can set up and fit each boat for a customer’s personal needs.

Just designing, building and selling these unique boats would be enough work for anyone – but not McIntire.

McIntire is the current president and one of the founders of the Little Manistee Watershed Conservation Council. The Council is a river protection association that has put in a decade of river restoration, enhancement and protection efforts in partnership with the DNR, Forest Service, and Resource Conservation Alliance. That’s almost a full-time job in itself for these “river keepers.”

But right at the helm is “retiree” Dave McIntire, a man clearly in need of an updated dictionary. Retirement is simply not in his vocabulary.

For more information, visit www.dryflyfloatboats.com.