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Chuck Kraft at the 2016 ICAST Show, Orlando, Florida, at Eastern Trophy Flies’ (ETF) Booth, the company that distributes his innovative fly patterns.  See the link in the image caption below.

A man you wished you would have met was well known by his angling peers:

NOTE: Charles Alexander Kraft Jr. passed away at age 77 (May 22, 1942 – March 9, 2020). His legacy is one of dedication to fly fishing in all of its manifestations: fly designer and fly tyer, fly fisher of notable merit, fly casting teacher and fly rod designer, and dedicated conservationist. Bob Clouser called Chuck Kraft’ one of the best smallmouth bass guides in the country,’ Flip Pallot said he is the ‘definition of a smallmouth bass expert.’ Lefty Kreh was a regular, and Kelly Galloup was a noted fan.

I met Chuck Kraft in July at the 2016 ICAST Show in Orlando, Florida. It became evident that Chuck Kraft spent much of his time figuring out what trout, carp, smallmouth, and largemouth bass eat. What hook sizes and materials give a fly a look that initiates a bite because it has the correct ambulation and silhouette, and in some flies, does the wounded swimmer look? Was  Kraft a rookie phenom? No, no, no – try two months shy of 30 years, whose mark was made in a big, mixed neighborhood of rough and tumble pescadoes.

Kraft believes in flies that ‘look like and could be’ more than look exactly like

As a guide, Chuck fished a long list of who’s who clients regularly challenging the New River waters near its West Virginia border crossing into western Virginia. They all came to fish with Chuck Kraft because he was the only fly fishing guide (for decades) and made the fishery regionally popular because of his due diligence. Later, ‘when they came’ (other guides), he remained the only one who knew anything about catching big smallmouth bass – the fishery’s prospector gold nugget.

Image of Chuck Kraft [1942-2020] provided by Reilly Rod Crafters.

Always refreshing. Chuck was not guilty of an isolationist’s views on casting, flies, fly rods, fly reels, fly lines, or leaders

Kraft spits everything out in plain and simple terms, but most sufficiently, saying things like: ‘Stop collapsing your wrist.’ Or maybe: ‘You need to add one more dubbing wrap here.’ Or maybe: ‘Leave it alone, swim it from right there.’ And sometimes, ‘that’s a nice rod, so leave it in your car. You can use mine.’

Kraft had followers, but he was not a follower. He has always taken the fork less traveled

His position on fly rods: ‘They must be designed to catch fish, cast comfortably at short and long distances when needed. A rod that can only cast a mile is not the best for catching fish, nor is the angler who thinks that distance is his only advantage.’  

His stance on flies? Well, that’s hard to pin down because many of his patterns contradict conventional ideas about hook size, the use of flash, and unconventional tying materials.

The New River, the origin of Kraft’s knowledge, is about as diverse a fishery as one could imagine

To say the New River is full of fish is not to exaggerate. It is full of catfish, carp, trout, and the best in Micropterus dolomieu. The flies he developed for these pescadoes were the key to his success in that fishery, which he gladly shares today. But the better news is that almost all his New River flies travel well.

I can attest to the transitory successes of Kraft’s hand tied in Georgia: carp, largemouth bass, brookies, rainbows, browns, hybrid stripers, and a smattering of several other worthy opponents like black and white crappies.

Chuck Kraft was considered by many of his clients a ‘life coach.’

Kraft’s stock–in–trade has always been figuring stuff out, but he never over-intellectualizes how he got there

I was gifted a dozen of Chuck Kraft’s original fly designs – all tied on hook sizes of his choosing for the waters and species I told him I was going to fish in Georgia: fast water, lakes, still water, and coastal marshes, (largemouth bass, hybrid bass, trouts, panfish, and the State’s best saltwater game fish, the protected Sciaenops ocellatus).

His package was 12 flies – the ones that have proven wins in away games

You will probably not be able to find any of the following patterns in your local fly shop. I have not seen any patterns in the Atlanta area that reveal any DNA connection to Chuck’s patterns.

On my walk-through, before heading into the waters where I planned to fish, I sought the opinions of several fly shop owners and guides in Atlanta regarding the Kraft selection. They replied in unison: ‘… those will never work here.’ I have to admit that their initial dismissiveness made me doubt myself. The only one who disagreed was Gary Merriman, former owner of The Fish Hawk, who out-ranked all other fly shop owners within a 100-mile radius of Atlanta.

Here they are. Keep an open mind, and you will be rewarded on Earth if you venture off with these odd patterns

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My reaction was probably the same as yours, especially for the trout patterns – over-the-top flash in gold and silver – go figure? This fly pattern is the hottest ticket on the Madison River in Montana! Hook sizes vary on 2, maybe 3X, long shanks. Go to Eastern Trophies Flies for recipes and nomenclature. Many Kraft’s flies fish better tied as tube flies, and all will cast better.

Try this Kreelex

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