David Klausmeyer (1958-2025). Photo via Fly Tyer.
I was saddened to learn of the passing of my old friend, Dave Klausmeyer, who served as the editor of Fly Tyer magazine from 1994-2023. He died on November 24, after a long battle with a rare form of lymphoma. According to a Facebook post by his wife, Diane, Dave remained positive the entire time, which makes perfect sense to those of us who knew him.
I first met Dave in the summer of 1998, when I arrived in Vermont to take the helm of American Angler, which was published by the same company as Fly Tyer. He was incredibly welcoming and took me on my first trip into the Green Mountains to catch wild, native brook trout. A great bear of a man—I used to refer to him as Dave “The Man-Mountain” Klausmeyer—he had a loud, infectious laugh and was always available to shoot the breeze about such diverse topics as blues guitarists, bamboo rods, and William Shakespeare.
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At the time, Dave was living in Steuben, in the remote Downeast region of Maine. He’d spend the work week in Bennington, and then drive 7 hours home for the weekend. One time, at a consumer show, Dave spent a long time talking to one of his many fans. As the man walked away, Dave turned to me laughing and said, “That guy lives in Portland, but thinks he’s from Maine.”
Although I wouldn’t say that Dave had no ego, he did not care a jot for self-promotion. Between editing Fly Tyer for almost 30 years and writing more than a dozen books on the subject, he was clearly among the more influential figures in fly tying over that period. He taught so many people to become better tiers and anglers, and he did it without any airs or pretentiousness. That is a rare bird, indeed.
Just a few of Dave’s many excellent books on tying.
We worked together for a decade and stayed in touch sporadically over the years since. Our last long text conversation was in February, where I suggested that we meet in the middle and fish somewhere, and he responded by saying, “Let’s look to the fall. We always had a great time together.” We sure did, Dave, and and I’m sorry we won’t get the chance to do it again.
Click here to read David Klausmeyer’s obituary in The Ellsworth American
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