When in the late 50's, Lefty Kreh first tied a relatively simple all White fly that he was looking to be a foul proof, easy to cast pattern that would imitate the bait fish of his local Chesapeake Bay, little did he realise then that he had created what was to become the most successful bait fish imitation of all time, and some 50 years later would be regarded as a world wide "Modern" Classic.
Today, I doubt there is a saltwater fly fisher on this planet that doesn't have a Lefty's Deceiver in his armoury, and there are not many species of fish swimming the oceans and flats of either hemisphere, who haven't at one time or another, fallen for the charms of Lefty's most aptly named creation.
The Lefty's Deceiver is a style of tying rather than a specific pattern, designed to resemble in profile many different bait fish. It can be tied in any length from just a couple of inches, up to as large as the materials utilised and hook sizes will allow. You can sculpt the fly in any way you want, as it can be tied sparse or full, short or long, and in any combination of colours you so wish.
It is relatively easy to tie, with the only problem for the novice tier likely to be the tail hackle alignment, however there are a few tricks of the trade which might assist in this respect, the first of which is to ensure you select correctly matched sizes of hackles. The straightest stemmed hackles come from the centre section of any cape, with those hackles towards the left and right hand side taking on subtle curvatures opposing each other. Therefore if you choose to make up the tail with four hackles, unless you are able to select all four from the central section of the cape, you should match them as near as you possibly can, by taking two of each from the hackles situated towards the left and right hand sides of the cape. If you take them all, from say the left hand side, when you attempt to tie them in with two pairs facing each other, due to the natural curvatures all flowing the same way, you will find it impossible to align them correctly.
When tying in the hackles, avoid stripping the flue from the base, or if this is not possible due to the overall length of the hackle, strip the stems and leave the hackle a little longer than you actually require, so as when you tie them in, you are not attempting to secure by way of completely stripped stems, as they have a tendency to roll and twist. The flue or hackle barbs on the other hand provide traction and greatly aid the tie in and alignment process.
In the following instructional sequence I have tied a tan and white version on a size 2 hook, but as I say, you can tie this in any colour combination you like, with all white, chartreuse and white,
blue and white, olive and white, and all black, being amongst the most popular colour combinations.
MATERIALS
Hook: Any Size from 6 through to 6/0 or bigger. Standard or Long Shank of your choice. Here I have used a size 2 Mustad C70SD
Tying ?Thread: 8/0 White, or more normally the colour to match the actual wing colour of the fly you are tying.
Tail: Four White Cock saddle hackles, with around half a dozen strands of Pearl Krystal Flash along each side of the tail (On larger versions use 6 to 8 hackles)
Body: UTC Pearl Mirage(This is Optional, as can be tied without any body material, or you can use any flash or other body materials you wish)
Collar: White Bucktail. (I have added a couple of strands of pearl Holo Chromosone Flash, but again this optional as to what flash you use, if indeed you use any at all)
Gills: A few strands of Red Krystal Flash (Yet again optional)
Wing: Tan Bucktail
Head: Built up to accept eyes. White, coloured on top with tan non-waterproof marker, and blended to achieve two tone effect...This is my preference, and the more normal finish is to build up the head with a thread colour that matches the wing.
Finish: Stick on eyes, and two or three coats of Loon Hard head, or your favourite head cement.
STEP 1
TIe in a thread base towards the rear of the hook to act as a foundation point for the tail
STEP 2
I find it easier to tie the tails on in pairs, but I know others tie them in one at a time, and there are some real experts who are able
to place both pairs back to back and tie in the whole tail in one operation.....That takes a lot of practice.
Presuming you choose to tie them in two at a time, take one matching pair, align them up with each other, then pinching the pair
between your forefinger and thumb almost at the base of the hackle, offer them up on top?of the hook shank (Not along the side)
Working from the front of the foundation, lash down the bare hackle stalks, making sure they remain on the top of the hook, whilst
still holding the base of the actual aligned hackles, with your other hand. When you reach the point where the flue or hackle barbs
begins secure firmly with the pinch and loop method for a couple of turns, and then continue to secure by running down to a point just
before the end of the shank, and back up to the point where you began.
Take the other pair of hackles, aligning them back to back, so as they are the exact same length as the pair you have just tied
in, and repeat the process. When complete, the tail should look something like the above, and once you are satisfied with the
way the tail is sitting, cut off all of the excess hackle stalks.
STEP 3
Take three or four lengths of Pearl Krystal Flash and lining them up along the side of the tail hackles, tie them in?along the side of the
hook shank. Having done this, take the other end of the strands of Krystal Flash, fold them over the top of the hook shank and secure them
along the side of the shank so as they extend along the other side of the tail. Trim any excess, so as the flash materials extend to, or just a
little way past the end of the tail. Now build up the remainder of the hook shank back towards the eye with your tying thread in order to
make a nice even base on which to wind your body materials, leaving enough bare hook shank for the collar and winging materials.
STEP 4?
Starting at the front end of the base of thread, tie in a length of UTC Pearl Mirage (or body material of your choice) and wind this fairly tightly back down
to the base of the tail, then back up the hook shank over itself, securing at the original tie in point, and cut off any excess material.
STEP 5
For more heavily dressed Deceivers, the normal method of tying in the collar is by way of two separate clumps of Bucktail tied in each side
of the hook, which are then pressed down with your fingers whilst being kept under tension with the tying thread, until they meet on the
underside of the hook. When tying small or sparse versions however, I prefer the following method.
Take a clump of White Bucktail, and after pulling out any base fluff, align the tips by way of a hair stacker or similar. Now offer up the clump
of Bucktail on top of the hook, making absolutely sure that the tips of the hair are overlapping beyond the hook by some way, as this will prevent
the fly fouling. Secure with a couple of turns of loose thread whilst you make sure you have the Bucktail positioned where you want it.
STEP 6
Once satisfied that you have the Bucktail positioned where you want it, take two or three more turns of the tying thread over the Bucktail
pulling down hard (Not hard enough to break the thread) which will cause the Bucktail to spin around the shank in the same manner as if you
were spinning a deer hair head. Make sure the hairs are spread as you would like them, and If not, you will still be able to manoeuvre?them by hand
to a certain degree. Once satisfied with the positioning, secure with several more turns of thread, then add a little dob of head cement, for extra
security.
STEP 7
If you want to add more flash now is the time to tie it in. I have taken a couple of strands of DNA Pearl Holo Chromosone Flash, and a
single strand of Pearl Flashabou Mirage, secured them at the halfway point, doubled them back on themselves Hi-Tie style, and?
trimmed them to size.
STEP 8
Rotate, or take the hook out of the vice and turn upside down. Tie in four or five strands of Red Krystal flash and secure on what
will be the underside of the hook. Take the excess material beyond the tying in point, fold this back Hi Tie style, and secure so as it lays over
and mixes with the flash already secured, then trim so as all strands are of equal length. This represents the gills and whilst not included
in Lefty's original tying, is included in many tyings now days.
STEP 9
Cut a clump of Tan Bucktail (or other colour of your choice) and prepare as per Step 5, This will form the wing of the fly, so whilst you should
offer it up to the hook as described in Step 5, you must make sure that this clump extends slightly beyond the end of the collar. Once satisfied
this is the case, cut away the excess material and tie down, making sure that all the hairs in the clump are firmly secured on top of the hook shank.
Add a little head cement for extra security, and then build up the head with the tying thread until it is big enough to accept stick on eyes.?
STEP 10
Having built up the head, take a non-waterproof marker pen of the same colour as the wing, run it along the top of the head, then with wetted
fingers, smear and blend it down the side of the head to form a two tone effect. (Alternatively you could finish the head off with the same colour?
tying thread as the wing colour)
STEP 11
Add a pair of silver/black stick on eye to the sides of the head, give the head and eyes a couple of coatings of Loon Hard Head, or your
favourite head cement, and you are finished.
I said that Lefty's Deceiver was more of a tying style than an actual fly, and below are just a few examples of the many colour variations
and profiles that can be tied "Deceiver" style.
