Remembering Chuck Kraft

Image by Wray Sinclair

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.

Wray recounts his first time meeting Chuck:

My Memories of Chuck Kraft

Wray Sinclair

March 10th, 2020

I still vividly remember the first time that I met Chuck. I was around 15 years old, wandering the floor at a national capitol area fly fishing show. I’d always known about Chuck and his flies, simple, effective, and well thought out patterns. Flies that could only be developed with a lifetime of experience spent on the water like him. Born and raised in Virginia, he spent his life on these waters. One of the first pioneers of fly fishing in the state, doing it well before it was ‘cool’.

I was having trouble tying his namesake fly, the CK Baitfish. Still young and somewhat shy, I believe it was David ‘Grizzly’ Lambert (who I later ended up working with/for). Who encouraged me to approach Chuck and made an introduction at that show. Turns out, my problem had a simple solution. I needed to brush out the body fur. Chuck used a mustache comb. Unfortunately for a pre-facial hair kid, I didn’t have one laying around. Kindly, Chuck gave me his. But not before he tied a second CK Baitfish to make sure that I fully grasped the intricacies of tying a 2 material fly. I’ve still got those flies sitting on my tying bench at home.

This past summer, about 10 years since my initial interaction with Chuck, I was back in Virginia pursuing a 2-month long photo project, documenting the people and places that make Virginia unique. I found myself back in the same fly shop I used to work at chatting with old co-workers and friends. Immediately I knew that I wanted to take a portrait of Chuck. His health wasn’t well at the time, and unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it on the water together. But he invited me up to his place in Charlottesville to spend the afternoon. We chatted about his life in Virginia, time spent on the water, and mutual friends. He explained his thought process behind tying flies, and we cast a couple of his signature fly rods in the yard. Once again Chuck sat me down to show me some fly tying tricks. He was working on a new smallmouth pattern, something he was gracious enough to show me…. But in classic Chuck fashion, I was sworn to secrecy. I’m not sure if anyone else saw that fly but once again it was simple, effective, and well thought out.

We are proud to have known and learned from Chuck, and the world has lost a great innovator, fly tyer and guide, gentleman, and friend of everyone in the industry.