Kreelex Minnow

[Mark]

Early last month at Bass Pro, immediately prior to our Snaggedline M&G scheduling session, a group of FSFFers tied flies in front of the fly shop. At that time Harry (On the Fly) showed me how to tie a new minnow variation, the Kreelex Minnow. I was impressed with how simple it was to tie. But mostly, I saw its flashiness and thought that fly will work for everything I target in my kayak from pickerel to stripers.

The fly is supposed to be tied with a material called Kreelex. However, Harry showed me that Polarflash will work in lieu of Kreelex. So I bought a couple of packs of Polarflash that day and tonight, inspired by the cabin fever postings of fly tiers on Snaggedline, I made my first two Kreelex Minnows.

Here are the materials:

Kreelex.jpg

The pattern calls for a size 6, 4x streamer hook. I thought I had some but when I looked at my stash tonight, the best I could do was size 6, 3x. Close enough...

Here they are:

Kreelex2.jpg Kreelex3.jpg

The photos do not do justice to the reflectiveness of the Polarflash. I think these flies are can't miss.

I found the following video which is precisely how Harry showed me to tie it: https://youtu.be/d0kF6We6MbU

Note the volume of material the tier uses. I think that's the only difficult thing about this fly. Too much flash and it's difficult to cinch down. Too little and the fly will be too sparse. It's similar to tying a Clouser only easier. It may take a few tries to catch on. But once you do, you can knock these out very fast.

Thanks again, Harry.

[kevinfry]

wow impressive for a fairly simple plan

[On the fly]

Mark, I guess we will see how effective they are in the spring
Harry

[Cluelessandfly]

I love fishing these for yellow perch in the finger lakes and smallmouth on the shenandoah. Of course, I'm sure they would also work for those fish everywhere in between.

Nice ties!

[DanMarino]

Thanks for posting that Mark.
I'll make a few once I get the materials.

[brianisoutside]

I swear this must have been invented by companies that make that flash. Otherwise tying normal flys I use a few strands and a bundle lasts a long time. It’s a conspiracy to sell more


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DanMarino]

But does it catch fish?

[Mark]

The fly originated in the west as a trout fly. I'm sure it will work for anything we chase here.

Because you fold the strand bunches on the hook it actually takes less material than you might think given the bulky profile of the fly. In fact, that's why I suggested to watch the video. I think the inclination of most tiers would be to overdress it and you do not need to. I suspect I have enough Polarflash remaining from the packages pictured in the original post to tie 20 more.

[kevinfry]

I swear this must have been invented by companies that make that flash. Otherwise tying normal flys I use a few strands and a bundle lasts a long time. It’s a conspiracy to sell more


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

it is the cheapest of the flash materials at bass pro.....by a couple bucks

[Memory Maker]

Should be great for shad