Lefty Kreh built the Deceiver to solve two problems: baitfish flies that either wouldn't cast or fouled around the hook on every backcast. His design, a saddle-hackle tail with a bucktail collar that supports it, casts beautifully, holds its shape in the water, and imitates a bigger, fuller baitfish than a Clouser. It's the other fly every Northeast salt angler carries.
What it imitates & when to use it
The Deceiver is a bigger-profile baitfish: herring, menhaden, mullet and similar. Reach for it when fish are on larger bait, when you want a fly with more presence and movement, or any time you're covering water for striped bass and bluefish.
The recipe (a basic Deceiver)
- Hook: saltwater streamer hook, #2 to 3/0
- Tail: four to six saddle hackles, splayed, with flash
- Body: flat braid or left bare
- Collar/wing: bucktail top and bottom (this supports the tail and prevents fouling)
- Optional: a topping of peacock or dark bucktail, and stick-on eyes
Colors that produce in the Northeast
- All white, the everyday striper color.
- Olive/white and chartreuse/white, great in stained water and bright light.
- Blue/white, a classic bunker/herring look.
- All black, the night fly; a black silhouette is easiest for a bass to track after dark.
How to fish it
Fish it on an intermediate or sinking line and use varied strips, long and slow, short and sharp, with pauses. The soft hackle tail breathes and swims even when the fly is sitting still, so don't be afraid to let it hang in the current at the end of a swing.
Tip For a fly that both jigs like a Clouser and has the profile of a Deceiver, tie a Half & Half. Lefty's own hybrid with dumbbell eyes up front and a Deceiver tail. It's one of the best all-around striper flies there is.