HFFA Annual Meeting & Show Speakers

George Daniel

George Daniel was six when he tried fly fishing on the native brook trout stream near his home village in Potter County, Pennsylvania. The stretch of stream was designated a “kids only section,” which gave him the freedom to practice…a lot. Self-taught for a good part of a decade, at fourteen his family moved to central Pennsylvania. At a local fly shop, he connected with the man he considers his fly fishing idol, Joe Humphreys. Taking George under his wing, Humphreys began mentoring him, creating a foundation that would lead to more formalized instruction. At 16, Humphreys expanded his education into all levels, from the basic cast to advanced nymphing casts. To this day, George credits Humphreys for the bulk of his knowledge while acknowledging the many national and international fly fishing professionals who have contributed to his knowledge and experience.

George went on to qualify for Fly Fishing Team USA in Bend, Oregon. He competed in five World Fly Fishing Championships and coached both the US Youth Team and Fly Fishing Team USA in four World Championships.  The experience allowed him to travel the globe and learn from many of the best anglers in the world. A two-time US National Fly Fishing Champion, ranking as high as 5th in the world, George continued to win or achieve respectable finishes in other fly fishing competitions.

But his true passion is fly fishing education. Appearing at clubs and fly fishing shows around the country, George conducts lectures and seminars while still logging more than 280 days a year on waters near and far. George is currently the director/lead instructor for the Pennsylvania State University Fly Fishing Program.

Charlie Craven

After mysteriously losing all of his dad’s lures in a single day, Charlie Craven 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 Juju Baetis, 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 Fly Fisherman Magazine and still maintains this title to this day. He was recently named to that magazine’s 50 Most Influential People in Fly Fishing, 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”