Continuing the “old flies from old drawings” theme here at FF&W, I present you with a Deceiver, another of the great patterns of fly fishing. Unlike the Mickey Finn, this is not a fly that I tied madly as a kid. It was, however, a fly that I frequently admired in the mouth of large Keys tarpon shown in books and magazines. Of course, the fly is typically referred to as “Lefty’s Deceiver,” and since Lefty is a long-time friend of my father’s, it is only natural that the fly figured large in my angling youth.

The version drawn above is one of the few million (it seems) variations floating around, but I wanted to go fairly conservative in styling, and ran with saddle hackles, bucktail, and peacock. Synthetics have definitely enhanced the modernized iterations of the pattern, but there is still something satisfying about catching fish (tarpon or trout) with the classic materials.

As with the Clouser Minnow, the various Deceiver modifications over the years have accounted for untold numbers of big fish of all kinds. Even if you never expect to wet a line in the brine, you can probably find a place for a Deceiver. Pike? Check. Salmon? Check. Bass? Check. Trout? Check. Just about anything that eats baitfish? Yep, check. Colors? White, chartreuse, black, or circus clown, it all works somewhere…