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After mysteriously losing all of his dad’s lures in a single day, Charlie was gifted a fly tying kit by his parents for his eighth birthday.

He’s tied flies pretty much every day for the forty years since then and has figured out a few things pertaining to fur, feathers, and fish along the way. At this point, it’s becoming well known that he’s opinionated, outspoken and sometimes brash when it comes to flies and techniques but his passion lies in sharing the skills he’s developed.
Over the years, Charlie has been a prolific commercial fly tyer and, for a time, a pretty mediocre fishing guide, due to his insistence on liverwurst and onion lunch sandwiches instead of grilled prawns like all the other sissy guides.

He’s been an Umpqua Feather Merchants Signature Tyer for over 18 years with several fly box mainstays like the Jujubaetis, Two Bit Hooker and Baby Gonga among his over two dozen commercially available patterns.

All this experience finally culminated in 2004 with the opening of his own fly shop, Charlie’s Fly Box, in Arvada, Colorado, where he is the head bookkeeper, order taker and fry cook in addition to president and CEO.

He’s written three books, Charlie Craven’s Basic Fly Tying, Charlie’s Fly Box and Tying Nymphs with plans for several more when he gets around to them.

After beating Ross Purnell in a prolonged and brutal arm wrestling match, he became the Fly Tyer’s Bench columnist for Flyfisherman Magazine and still maintains this title to this day. He was recently named to that magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in Flyfishing, and it is thought that his number 45 ranking was specifically chosen to keep his head from growing any larger.

Charlie lives in the hills of Palmer Lake, Colorado with his lucky, patient and loving wife, Lisa, their two gigantic dogs and somewhere between three and six young adult children. He still likes quiet time, the Parachute Adams, Colorado whiskey and dry-dropper fishing from a boat. His favorite number is five and his favorite color is red and he doesn’t care what yours are.

“It’s not simply enough that a fly catches fish, it has to do all that’s asked of it, well….and style matters”


~Charlie Craven

“Little Charlie”, aka Junior, is a passionate fly tyer and angler who earned his way onto the shop staff by showing up back during quarantine and helping his old man out. Char is a dry fly snob and thinks worms and eggs are for the dirty people. He likes motorcycles, fast cars, trucks and mayfly hatches. You can find him here in the shop most days gettin’ it done and being super patient and helpful. He makes his Pop proud and I’m glad to have him here in the shop with me.

Maximilian Beauchene is a whole lot of letters assigned to this fresh new face.  Max grew up in North Carolina and spent his early youth fishing the salt in that area and later moved out here to Colorado after finishing his degree in BA in Advanced Storytelling with an emphasis on details.  As with any bright and shiny newly minted college grad, Max immediately got into flyfishing and managed to endear himself enough to end up working here at the shop.  He’s been with us about 9 months now and I can confidently say, this kid is going places.  Max is a passionate angler and an accomplished fly tyer, which is a dressed-up way to say all he ever thinks about is fishing.  He has been a breath of fresh air around the shop and is particularly good at explaining where and how to fish a spot with all the right specifies and an enthusiasm that is downright contagious. He’s a pleasure to spend time with and is a hard-working kid that we have grown to love enough to overlook his constant barrage of 14 inch brown trout pictures, endless questions about fly tying and the trail of messes that follow him everywhere.  We are proud to have Max as a member of the CFB family and we know you’ll enjoy him too.

Sam Wright is the newest member of the CFB Fam and joined us about a month ago.  He grew up in Indiana, of all places, and started flyfishing while living in Dubois, Wyoming.  He’s lived right here in Arvada for about four years and has been a full-time guide since then until we finally saved him from damnation and let him come work for us.  Sam is a wealth of information and knows the waters around Colorado and Wyoming like the back of his hand.  He’s got a million tricks up his sleeve (and he knows ALL of the dirty ones) and is real good at giving directions based on things like tree stumps and oddly shaped rock formations.  Sam says he loves streamer fishing and big dry fly eats but we all know his favorite rig includes an orange plastic bead, a toothpick, and some a bare hook. Little Char has been working on breaking him of his “guide” habits and has been trying to get him to fish a single dry without an indicator, when conditions are right, of course.  Sam seems to be coming around, so we’ve got our fingers crossed. 

You’ll never really find Matt in the shop because he’s just plain not very good at this stuff. His claims to fame are being a pretty good oarsman and telling the funniest stories you’ve ever heard. He’s also a beautiful caster and accomplished angler, as well as a golf pro, downhill skier and aficionado of anything with an engine. You think he’d get it together sooner or later. Matt lives in Edwards, Colorado with his wife, Bean, and two boys she swears are his.