April Fly of the Month- Lefty's Deceiver

Lefty Kreh is probably one of the most well known names in the fly fishing worked. He fished with celebrities and perfected the double hall. His fly, Lefty's Deceiver, was even celebrated as a US Postage stamp. He passed away March 14th, and in his honor I am going to demonstrate his signature fly.

Most often you will see this fly listed as a saltwater fly, but like many, you can change it up and make it for brown trout, pike, musky, or bass. It's all about the colors and materials you use.

Speak of materials, traditionally this fly is tied with buck tail. But with all the synthetics available there are a multitude of patterns and materials you can use. I've used variations of this fly in San Diego bay for the bay bass with great success, they love orange and root beer colors! But for this one I am going to stick to the traditional materials.

Materials:

Saltwater hook - I'm using a Gamakatsu SP11-3L3H size2

Thread - White or bright yellow heavy duty

Tail - White saddle hackle

Flash - Silver Krystal Flash and Pearl Flashabou

Body - Silver or pearl braid

Wing - White buck tail

Overwing - Chartreuse buck tail

Gills - Red Krystal Flash

Start out by securing the hook in your vise. I like using Gamakatsu hooks, but be careful, they are very sharp! They will easily cut your thread or slice your finger. Wrap your thread to the bend and make a small bump of thread

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Next grab 4 white saddle hackle feathers together and snip them to about 3 times the length of the hook shank. Hold the bundle firmly and tie them in just ahead of that thread bump. Tie in about 3 strands of Krystal Flash on each side and trim to the length of the hackle tail. Repeat this with 3-4 strands of Flashabou on both sides, snipping it a little longer than the tail.

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Tie in a piece of pearl braid and wrap up the eye of the hook.

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Snip a small clump of white buck tail. Pull out any short or fuzzy fibers from the butts and trim to about half the length of the tail from the head. Cut the butts off at an angle in order to make sure you get a tapered head on your fly. Tip - cut the angle going back along your finger to get a backwards angle. This will ensure a nice even cut.

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Tie this clump in just behind the eye on the far side of the hook with the long end of the angle against the shank. Repeat for the near side of the hook. Then gently work the buck tail around the hook shank and secure.

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Next tie in a slightly larger and longer chartreuse bundle of buck tail right on top of the hook shank, using the same method as you did the white.

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Take about three strands of red Krystal Flash, double them and then double them again over your thread. Tie it in under the eye so it hangs from the bottom like gills. If you have a rotating vise it's handy to flip the hook upside down. Then trim to about the hook point.

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Wrap a nice bullet shaped head, tie off, add some head cement and you're done. My personal preference for these type of flies is a UV cure glue, my favorite is called Solarez by Wahoo International. This will make a nice hard head and you can glue in eyes at this point if you like. Coat them with the UV cure and they will look great!

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And there you have it, a Lefty's Deceiver!

Tight lines!

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Erika Forsythe

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