The master anglers with whom one fishes often opens doors to angling experiences far beyond the basic rewards we may find on our own. Just by chance three of my angling heroes were all named Charlie. They were Charlie Brooks, Charlie Fox and Charley Waterman.
Charlie Brooks
Charlie Brooks lived in West Yellowstone, Montana and he was a master nymph fisherman. In the many years I spent fishing with him, he showed me the fine points of nymph fishing for trout. I then brought these tactics back to Virginia. I still teach them to the students in our on the stream trout and smallmouth bass schools. He was a joy to fish with, and I often enjoyed sitting around his house listening to fishing stories.
Charlie Fox
Charlie Fox lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania right on the Letort and loved everything about nature. He admired the little garter snake that lived on the trail from his home. This admiration also continued to the brown trout that fed below the water cress on the stream just downstream of his stream-side bench. He introduced me to tying and fishing tricos and encouraged me to experiment with beetle fly patterns on mountain streams. This ultimately resulted in the Murray’s Flying Beetle which is my favorite summer fly. Charlie Fox was a true gentleman angler.
Charley Waterman
Charley Waterman was an exceptionally close angling friend. We fished together all over the Rockies and the East coast for all types of trout and bass. The thing I remember most about him is that he loved all types of fly fishing. He was always just as excited when his wife, Debie, caught the large fish rather than himself. Charley wrote over 50 books on fishing and hunting and taught writing in college. Although he caught many record size fish, this was not his goal. I always thoroughly enjoyed fishing with Charley Waterman.