Remembering Chuck Kraft

Remembering Chuck Kraft

As the news broke about the passing of Chuck Kraft, guide and fisherman, teacher and steward of the sport we love, and close friend to many of us in Virginia, we reached out to a former employee and photographer Wray Sinclair for his insight on a man who helped so many and asked for nothing in return.

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The Ladies Have It

The Ladies Have It

Fly fishing is a sport long dominated by men, both domestic and internationally. Advertisements traditionally target married white males, approximately 40 years old. Equipment has been designed for men by men, and fishing is routinely considered a manly blood sport. Fishing trips were for the boys, and when we were children, grandpa took us fishing, and brought the fish home for the women to cook. Yet despite the proliferation of these ideas, nothing could be further from the truth. Women have participated and added to the sport, and continue to do so daily.

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The passing of a legend

The passing of a legend

We write with great sadness about the passing of icon Bernard "Lefty" Kreh.

Lefty, as he's known by everyone on the planet (except for the US Department of the Navy, with whom he served during World War II as a forward observer at the Battle of the Bulge at age 17), was a passionate angler, teacher, and consummate gentleman.

He was a fixture at fishing shows, was a prominent feature on television, and has done more to further the sport of fly fishing than anyone else in recent history.

Learn more about the life of the "unpretentious man with a perpetual smile and quick joke." 

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Local anglers highlighted in The Drake Magazine

Local anglers highlighted in The Drake Magazine

Local anglers Austin Murphy of the Potomac River Snakehead TournamentRob Snowhite, and Trent Jones were featured in the Summer 2016 Drake Magazine article titled "Scourge of the Potomac".

THERE ARE MANY SLIMY and unappealing things in Washington, D.C.—politicians, attorneys, lobbyists—but flyfisher Austin Murphy is interested in just one: the northern snakehead, also known as the Potomac Pike or the fearsome-sounding Frankenfish, named for its seemingly unnatural ability to move on land, live for days out of water breathing air, secrete mucus from its thick skin, and eat just about anything it can fit in its mouth.
“I’m obsessed with them,” Murphy says. It’s true, even his Twitter handle is Snakehead Slayer. Murphy works the weedy, shallow tidal waters of the Potomac River and its tributary creeks, poling a skiff and sight-fishing with an 8- or 9-weight. He compares catching snakeheads on the fly to taking a permit or musky, in terms of difficulty and approach.
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Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing 2-Fly Tournament & Fundraise

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing 2-Fly Tournament & Fundraise

MADISON COUNTY, Va. (NEWSPLEX) -- For many people, fishing is a relaxing sport, and for hundreds of combat veterans, it can also heal.

On Sunday, veterans and volunteers from across the nation gathered at a farm in Madison County for the 10th Annual 2-Fly Fishing Tournament, which raises money for veteran services.

The tournament is the nonprofit Project Healing Water's biggest event, and it brought out dozens of veterans who may be from different eras, but all share one common bond.

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Old Town Crier - June 2012 Issue - The Ladies Have It

Old Town Crier - June 2012 Issue - The Ladies Have It

Fly fishing is a sport long dominated by men, both domestic and internationally.  Advertisements traditionally target married white males, approximately 40 years old.  Equipment has been designed for men by men, and fishing is routinely considered a manly blood sport.  Fishing trips were for the boys, and when we were children, grandpa took us fishing, and brought the fish home for the women to cook.  Yet despite the proliferation of these ideas, nothing could be further from the truth.  Women have participated and added to the sport, and continue to do so daily.

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Old Town Crier - May 2012 Issue - Spring Fishing

Old Town Crier - May 2012 Issue - Spring Fishing

April showers bring May flowers, vibrant and colorful, and of course fragrant.  The scent of blossoming gardens wafting through the air of a warm spring day is a common and memorable event in Old Town, and will sometimes trigger a memory of times long gone, and places of our past.  Your sense of smell is one of your senses most closely associated with memory.  Each person’s memory and sense of smell are unique, which is why someone smelling homemade chocolate chip cookies baking can trigger fond memories of their childhood while someone else might be turned off thinking about a past job working long hours at a bakery.

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Old Town Crier - April 2012 Issue - A Season Renewed

Old Town Crier - April 2012 Issue - A Season Renewed

As April begins to roll in and around our nation's capital, we're reminded that we're entering a new season. Spring reminds us all that life and beauty renews itself each year in the form of dogwood and cherry blossoms, newly sprouting leaves and green grass, and the arrival of daylight savings time and the start of longer days and increasingly shorter nights. The robin calling just before daybreak, the warm, moist breeze wafting in from the river, and cool mornings that gradually give way to warmer afternoons.

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