RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Moderators: William Anderson, letumgo

User avatar
letumgo
Site Admin
Posts: 13345
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Buffalo, New York
Contact:

RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by letumgo » Sun Mar 27, 2022 8:24 am

Last evening, during our Zoom meeting, ronr mentioned checking out "RiverKeeper Flies" on YouTube. This morning I was checking out their tying videos and was very impressed with this soft hackle cripple pattern. I encourage you to check out the video and watch it thru to the end. John Kreft shows several variations of this cripple pattern, which all look like highly effective patterns.



Ron (ronr) - Thank you for mentioning this. I am excited to tye and fish these patterns.
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo

"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
catskiller9
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 1:06 am

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by catskiller9 » Mon Mar 28, 2022 7:57 am

WOW! Excellent tying technique and presentation, thanks for sharing.
User avatar
ronr
Posts: 864
Joined: Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:03 pm
Location: Central Oregon/Texas Transplant

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by ronr » Mon Mar 28, 2022 8:58 am

Kreft has an extensive catalogue of fly pattens on his website organize by bug and style... hasn't been doing videos very long, but his sbs demos are good. He lives very near the Metolius River and his travel blogs are quite interesting also.
DUBBN
Posts: 1627
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:41 pm

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by DUBBN » Tue Mar 29, 2022 7:19 pm

Nice guy.
User avatar
jcwillow777
Posts: 275
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2018 6:58 am
Location: Waterford, Michigan

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by jcwillow777 » Tue Mar 29, 2022 8:14 pm

Thanks for sharing Ray.
Greg
DUBBN
Posts: 1627
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:41 pm

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by DUBBN » Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:28 am

I have watched the video a few times. My teeth start hurting when I see how large the head of his flies are. I know that it is a personal choice.

I have always said it is easier to cut a tail off a fly than add one. That being said, I do not add wings to my soft hackles. I also know that it is my personal experiences and abilities that form my lack of faith in winged wets such as John Kreft demonstrated.

I ended up cutting the wings off my patterns when fishing drowned adults/Spinners/cripples, with soft hackles. I used all manners of materials for the wings. CDC, Z-lon, antron, Polypropylene from strike indicators, wool, egg yarn, Mcfly foam. I do much better with a water logged soft hackle, or flymph, greasing the leader to 1 or 2 inches from the fly. I rarely use them, but a spent pattern consisting of a split tail, dubbing, and Poly spent wings is a better producer for me.

I am not putting down patterns like the Leadwing Coachman, or Royal Coachman. There is a place for those, though I rarely use them.

These are only my opinions. I have zero data to back them up.
User avatar
letumgo
Site Admin
Posts: 13345
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Buffalo, New York
Contact:

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by letumgo » Sun Apr 03, 2022 12:36 pm

DUBBN wrote: Sun Apr 03, 2022 10:28 am greasing the leader to 1 or 2 inches from the fly
That is something I've not tried yet, but will definitely try this spring/summer. Thank you for sharing Wayne. ;)
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo

"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
tworod
Posts: 65
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 9:12 pm

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by tworod » Wed Apr 06, 2022 9:33 am

There is a place for winged wets...........everywhere.
Attachments
Wet Flies.jpg
Wet Flies.jpg (81.16 KiB) Viewed 2775 times
User avatar
letumgo
Site Admin
Posts: 13345
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:55 pm
Location: Buffalo, New York
Contact:

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by letumgo » Wed Apr 06, 2022 11:50 am

Whoa. Those are beautiful winged wets. Nice job. ;)
Ray (letumgo)----<°))))))><
http://www.flytyingforum.com/index.php? ... er=letumgo

"The world is perfect. Appreciate the details." - Dean
User avatar
redietz
Posts: 1726
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 7:21 pm
Location: Central Maryland

Re: RiverKeeper Soft Hackle Cripple (John Kreft video tutorial)

Post by redietz » Wed Apr 06, 2022 4:13 pm

Thanks for posting that. I never thought of the crinkled Zelon as a wing. I'll definitely try it.

I love mallard coverts for soft hackle. And mallard wings are still inexpensive.

I fish soft hackles dry quite a bit, especially during spinner falls. It look like the fly he showed would work well for that.
Bob
Post Reply