Lefty's Deceiver
This fly, developed by Lefty Kreh, has become an icon in the saltwater fly fishing arena. It has everything a gamefish could want - flash and lots of movement. The fish go crazy over this fly! I like to tie this fly a little sparse for ease of casting... here is my take on the recipe:
INGREDIENTS:
  • Hook: Tiemco 811S - Sizes 2/0, 1/0 or equivalent
  • Wing: 6 White Saddle Hackles flanked by 1 Grizzly saddle on each side and mixed with some Pearl Crystal Flash
  • Collar: Two bunches of White Bucktail, one applied to each side
  • Throat: A small bit of Red Crystal Flash or red bucktail
  • Top Wing: 4 to 6 peacock hearl
  • Eyes: 3mm prismatic stick-on type
  • Head: Chartreuse waxed monocord or equivalent, Devcon 5 Minute Epoxy mixed with Diamond Dust Glitter
RECIPE:
  1. Place the hook in the vise, attach the thread at the eye
  2. Tie in the white saddles, one at a time, alternating sides. Try to keep the hackle from rolling when you pull tension on the thread, and keep the ends together.
  3. Tie in the Pearl Crystal Flash at it's mid point, just forward of the saddles, streaming down one side. Pull the Crystal Flash around to the other side and lash it down. Doing it this way makes it very strong and much less likely to pull out when a fish grabs it but misses the hook.
  4. Throw in a few half-hitches to lock it down.
  5. Tie in the grizzly saddles and extend them to just about the ends of the white saddles.
  6. Cut a medium clump of unstacked white bucktail, divide it in half and place one half on each side of the hook, just slightly underneath and on the side to form a long collar about half the length of the total fly.
  7. More half-hitches.
  8. Tie in the Red Crystal Flash to form the throat.
  9. Tie in the peacock hearl directly on top of the fly, extending it to the end of the fly or a little beyond.
  10. Whip finish the head.
  11. Mix a small amount of epoxy with a sprinkling of glitter and apply to the head.
  12. Let the epoxy cure for about 4 1/2 minutes, then apply the eyes and press them into the epoxy.
  13. Mix a small amount of epoxy (without glitter) and coat the head and eyes.
  14. Let the epoxy cure and go fishing.