BRAND HISTORY
A LIFETIME OF SHAPING ADVENTURE
From the jungles of Honduras to the Sierra Nevada to the backyard classics on the Arkansas River in Colorado, Zack Hughes and Mike Harvey had kayaked all over the world together by the time they both settled down in Salida, Colorado in the late 1990’s to raise their families. Mike was designing whitewater parks throughout North America and saw the possibilities for surfing rivers in a new way. Meanwhile, Zack had been tinkering with ideas for a river surfing board in Salida, shaping short river boards in his garage out of blue board home insulation. In the summer of 2009, Mike tried a paddle board on the Arkansas for the first time and immediately saw the potential for a SUP to surf a river wave. He walked over to Zack’s garage shaping bay a few blocks away, asked Zack to make him a SUP board specifically for river surfing—and Badfish was born. In 2017 the final ingredient was added to the team when former professional kayaker and longtime paddlesports industry guru Luke Hopkins came on board. Luke, Zack and Mike bring their decades of experience in paddling to designing Badfish products…without ever losing sight of that spark of creativity that started in Zack’s garage.
// BADFISHSUP.COM //
BRAND HISTORY
LUKE HOPKINS
Paddlesports industry guru joins the ownership, bringing manufacturing expertise and lead market expansion
ZACK HUGHES
RIVER
CO-FOUNDER
BADFISHER RIVERSHRED
MVP
Zack designs a cutting edge SUP for river running combining whitewater kayak design with the new sport of SUP
SELFIE 14
SK8 FAMILY
Badfish creates the first SUP fishing board
Envisions the first river surfing SUP and the Green Dragon is born
Creates a new standard for a whitewater inflatable board
INFLATABLE
SELF-SUPPORT SUP
Badfish continues to drive innovation in the growing sport of river surfing with the SK8 family of boards
RIVER SURFER
A new self-support specific SUP defines a new direction in the sport
A premium, all-around paddleboard is launched with the traveling surfer in mind
MCIT
PIONEERS
Riding their own custom river surfing boards, Zack & Mike were early pioneer of surfing standing river waves
GLOBAL
GEAR OF THE YEAR
AWARD
Zack & Mike host one of the first ever river surfing contests in their home base of Salida, CO
MONARCH
Badfish creates the ultimate do-anything paddleboard with superior construction & features, at a price below other premium boards
Badfish wins the gear of the year for the 10'6 MVP
Badfish is nominated for this award which celebrates the intersection of entrepreneurship and the Colorado lifestyle
INCORPORATES
COLORADO SUP
SUP CONNECT
WRIGHT
CONTEST
RIVER SURFING EPOXY LINE
EXPANSION
THE
RIVER SURFING
EXPANDED
Badfish doubles its river surfing hardboard lineup with a greater range of high performance boards
SURF TRAVELER
Badfish defines a category with the first short, inflatable river surfing board, the IRS
Badfish creates an iconic inflatable SUP based on design elements from whitewater kayaking
RIVER SURFING
The Flyweight is launched with innovative materials that reduce the weight by 30% winning this coveted award.
WAVO
THE
FISHING SUP
CO-FOUNDER
GEAR OF THE YEAR AWARD
Badfish leads the market in river surfing with innovative inflatable board design
Zack creates first Badfish boards in his garage shaping bay
MIKE HARVEY
2021 OUTSIDE
CHAMPIONSHIPS
Supporting the culture and growth of the sport, Badfish hosts a 3-day river SUP competition in Salida
Badfish partners with retailers from coastto-coast, in Canada and Japan for greater international distribution
CONTINUED
INNOVATION
PERCH SEAT
Redesigned Badfisher is now compatible with the a kayak seat creating a hybrid SUP/Kayak
Despite pandemic related challenges Badfish continues to design and launch new products in new categories
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FUTURE