A little background on Charlie Brooks

Charles E. Brooks is well known to most fly fishers, at least to those of us who were fly fishing in the early to late 70’s, for it was then that Charlie started to share is knowledge and experience with us in several first rate books.  Books like Larger Trout for the Western Fly Fisherman, The Trout and the Stream, and Nymph Fishing for Larger Trout, detail Charlie’s approach to catching fish – big fish – in the rivers around his home in West Yellowstone.  But before he landed in West Yellowstone and became a student of rivers and fish, Charlie lived several lives worth of experiences.  His life began in the Missouri Ozarks during the depression, which meant living with six brothers and sisters in nothing more than a shack.  After grammar school in 1933, Charlie became a migrant farm worker.  Then in 1936, he headed west with the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), where he discovered the mountains and streams of Montana and Wyoming.  But it was 1964 before he was able to move back to the western mountains and settle in West Yellowstone.  During the intervening years he completed a career in the Air Force, in which he flew more than 50 bombing missions over Europe as a bombardier during World War II and worked in counterintelligence.

Once retired from the Air Force he settled in West Yellowstone, and began his study of fly fishing with an intense passion and watchful eye, spending hours and hours observing aquatic insects and fish.  For example, he used a garden hose as a breathing tube so he could stay submerged in the Madison River to study the behavior of giant salmonflies.  Charlie’s observations directly influenced his fly patterns, and their use is just as effective today as they were thirty years ago. 

I’d like to thank Robert H. Boyle for providing me with invaluable information about the life of Charlie Brooks.  For further information about Charlie and over 20 other important anglers, I highly recommend Robert Boyle’s book, Fishing Giants and Other Men of Derring-do, published in 2001 by The Lyons Press.

The Charlie Brooks audio recordings

The audio recording of Charlie provided here was recorded in 1988 for a newsletter I was publishing at the time called Western Hatch Quarterly.  In it Charlie answers several questions I posed to him about what factors make an effective fly pattern.  Charlie’s answers carry the confidence of a man who spent years studying and perfecting his skill at catching fish.  I hope you enjoy this rare chance to listen to one of fly fishing’s truly great characters from the past.
Rick Hafele

Question one: You are well known as an excellent nymph fisherman. From your nymph fishing experience, do you feel fish become as selective to specific nymphs as they sometimes become to adults on the surface and if so, do you feel pattern selection for nymphs is as critical as for drys?

Question two: You have been involved in fly fishing from all levels for many years. What differences do you see in the average fly fisher today, compared to 10, 20 or 30 years ago?

Question three: How do you think you have changed as a fisherman during the past 10 or 25 years?

Question four: Fly fishing equipment has undergone a technical revolution in the past 15 years. How do you feel this has changed the sport?

Question five: In your Book "The Living River" you end one chapter discussing the middle section of the Madison river with the phrase " It will reward those who let the river show the way." This phrase was intriguing. Could you expand on what you ment by this?

Question six: Two of your Books Fishing Yellowstone Waters and The Living River describe in close detail where to fish many streams in the Yellowstone area. Exposing good water is often a touchy subject among fishermen. What made you decide to describe some of your favorite waters to thousands of fishermen?

Question seven: How do you feel the increased fishing pressure has affected the streams in the Yellowstone area?

Question eight: From your fishing experience, do you feel trout actually become more educated as a result of this increased fishing pressure?

Question nine: Fisheries managers have been turning to more catch and release regulations to preserve quality fishing in the face of continually increasing fishing pressure. There are also more private streams which limit the number of fishermen and charge rod fees. What do you feel the future holds for trout fishermen as far as quantity and quality of rodders available?

Question ten: Given an equal chance of success, would you prefer to fish nymphs, emergers or dries, and why?

Question eleven: Fly Fishing encompases many facets and succes may depend on many factors. In general how would you rate the following factors by order of importance: 1- Tackle, 2- Fly Patterns, 3- Tactics, 4- Knowledge of Hatches, 5- Knowledge of Fish?