God Speed, Lefty Kreh

The fly fishing community lost an icon today.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/obitu...dead-at-93.html

That word "icon" is often over applied but in this case it is truly the right word.

RIP Lefty.

What an Innovator and forward thinking genius in the flyfishing world! He will be truly missed but his legacy is almost certain to live on forever. May he find meandering streams with 20 inch trout rising abundantly and at will. Rest In Peace Lefty!!!

What a loss.

Man...yeah...God speed.

There is nothing a guy like me can add other than Lefty was a gentleman's gentleman and he treated me as such when I was fortunate enough to be in his presence.

Rest in peace sir.

Well said Robert!

A brief meeting with Lefty in 2007 at Tailwaters Fly Shop in Dallas had a surprisingly significant impact on my life. A picture with Taylor lead to him spending an hour casting with her. I was amazed at how much time he spent with her that day.

That casting session lead to Taylor joining Temple Fork Outfitter's youth advisory staff. A couple of years later both of us became FFI certified fly casting instructors. Lefty's generosity with his time to help a teenage girl become a better caster has resulted in hundreds of other people getting casting help from Taylor and me over the past decade.

Thanks Lefty!

RIP. He and Al Crise are casting dry flies with Tonkin Cane fly rods to 24 inch long rising trout. Big Dale and George Glazener are there, too, Taking turns netting and fishing alongside them.

JR

He really was a great man. Fly fisherman magazine just had a tribute to him, written by flip pallit, his friend of 53 years.. he was an extremely generous person that had a great influence on many people..

How sad. I understand his health was declining for a while now, but he was truly an icon ... if you knew one name in the fly fishing world it was him.

I never had the pleasure of meeting Lefty. But my wife and I both had the honor of receiving casting lessons from Al Crise at his home in Glen Rose. RIP Gentlemen!

My good friend Barry Evans was also a very good friend of Al Crise and used to help him in a lot of the classes he taught. He was also a friend of Lefty's from his days as a charter boat captain and flyfishing guide out of Miami. When Lefty moved to Miami as director of the Miami Metropolitan Fishing Tournament, he became a neighbor of Barry's. Barry said the first time he met him was when Lefty met with a bunch of the captains, and it was announced that he would be showing them a little about fly casting. Most of them smirked that some newcomer from Maryland could teach them something about casting. He laid out 85 feet of line on the ground, picked it up with his hand and cast a long tight loop. Lefty had mentioned this story in his autobiography. When I mentioned this story to Barry, he said "yeah, I was in that group, and I had never seen anything like that in my life. I fished with him a few times and never saw another person that could cast like him". Other people I have talked to who had met him or talked to him on the phone said that Lefty was the most down to earth, approachable, and generous person they had ever met. I am afraid we will not see his like again. I only wish I could have met him before it was too late.

Met Lefty twice. Had some great conversation with him and when I was decades younger I lived not far from his home in Maryland. I may not have waited until age 55 to start fly fishing had I met him while I still resided there.

Two interesting facts about Lefty. He's right handed.

He's not a fly fishing purist. We laughed and like he said, "you use what is called for to get em."

Great human being.