Lefty's Deceiver

Saltwater fly imitating baitfish, for striped bass, bass and pike. Intermediate. Lefty Kreh.

A long tail of white saddle hackles with silver flash at the bend, a silver tinsel body, and a white bucktail collar round the front reaching just past the bend.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 80% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns. Build a small bump at the bend to hold the tail.
  3. Tie in: white saddle hackles, four to six Pick a feather about 0.7× the gape wide. Tie in the white saddle hackles, four to six so the tips reach well past the bend (6.5× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 3° up from the shank. Matched hackles, fluff stripped, two or three each side.
  4. Tie in: silver krystal flash Tie in the silver krystal flash, leaving 6.6× the gape sticking out behind, angled about 4° up from the shank. Three or four strands each side.
  5. Tie in: silver flat tinsel Tie in the silver flat tinsel with a few firm thread turns.
  6. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to 78% of the way along the shank in touching turns.
  7. Wind: silver flat tinsel Wind the silver flat tinsel forward to 78% of the way along the shank in 14 turns.
  8. Tie off: silver flat tinsel Tie off the silver flat tinsel with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  9. Tie in: white bucktail, sides and underneath Tie in a bunch of white bucktail, sides and underneath under the shank as a beard, reaching 2.8× the gape back. A clump each side or one underneath, spread round the lower half.
  10. Trim: white bucktail, sides and underneath Trim the butts of the white bucktail, sides and underneath flush.
  11. Tie in: white bucktail, on top Tie in a bunch of white bucktail, on top so the tips reach well past the bend (3× the gape from the tie-in point), angled about 4° up from the shank. Let it flare out round the sides of the body. Slightly larger and slightly longer, on top.
  12. Trim: white bucktail, on top Trim the butts of the white bucktail, on top flush. Butts cut at an angle for a tapered head.
  13. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. A tapered head, cemented; add eyes if you like.

History

Lefty Kreh, then an outdoor writer in Maryland, fished for striped bass on Chesapeake Bay, where the big streamers of the day, their saddle hackles tied in near the eye, kept fouling round the bend. Tying the hackles in at the bend and the bucktail at the head gave a fly that does not foul when cast, slims down in the air, keeps the shape of a fish and can be tied at any length. The original was all white, for the smelt the stripers ate. It is a design as much as a pattern, and it was on a US postage stamp in 1991.

Fishing it

Retrieve it like a fleeing baitfish, on a floating or sinking line to suit the depth. In salt water it is cast along surf bars and into channels and passes for striped bass, bluefish and tarpon; in fresh water it takes bass and pike.

Sources