Chuck “The Fly Guy”
It is not often you meet someone like Chuck “The Fly Guy” Haroutunian. His passion for creating quality hand-tied flies for fly fishing is bar none. Chuck, originally from Massachusetts made his way to Pasadena, California and from there, spent three years stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army 97th Signal Battalion. Fortunately for Chuck, after his discharge, he landed a job with the California Department of Fish and Game working at the hatchery located in the High Sierra Mountains. His (seasonal) job was to spawn, raise and plant trout while studying their populations around Mammoth Lakes, California. To this day Chuck can’t quite believe they paid him to go fishing” After four years with Fish and Game, Chuck became a Deputy Sheriff at Mammoth Lakes but continued fishing at every opportunity.
Chuck retired in 1982 and traveled to the four corners of the country – fishing his way across America.
He settled in Lake Havasu, Arizona where he fished for striped bass. The heat eventually drove him north to the Bitterroot Valley, more specifically, Hamilton, Montana. He spent most of his time fishing the Bitterroot River before moving “over the mountain” to where he now calls home, Philipsburg, Montana.
If you find yourself in Philipsburg, Montana during the summer, you will find Chuck outside of the local soda shop/restaurant Doe Brothers where he has his flies available for purchase.
Chuck has been creating quality hand tied flies for quite some time and, you all know, when you create something great, it takes on a life of it’s own. Chuck now spends his most of his time tying flies and teaching fly fishing. He does get out to fish on a regular basis and returns to Lake Havasu for about a month each winter to fish.
The flies shown here are a very small sampling of what Chuck has to offer.