The Lefty's Deceiver is an

artificial fly An artificial fly or fly lure is a type of fishing lure, usually used in the sport of fly fishing (although they may also be used in other forms of angling). In general, artificial flies are an imitation of aquatic insects that are natural food ...

streamer pattern used in

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

for freshwater and saltwater species. The fly was originated by fly angler and author

Lefty Kreh Bernard "Lefty" Kreh (February 26, 1925 – March 14, 2018) was an American fly fisherman, photographer and fly casting instructor who resided most recently in Hunt Valley, Maryland.Budryk, Peter. "So Just Who is Lefty Kreh?"http://fishwithkev.blog ...

in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

for

striped bass The striped bass (''Morone saxatilis''), also called the Atlantic striped bass, striper, linesider, rock, or rockfish, is an anadromous perciform fish of the family Moronidae found primarily along the Atlantic coast of North America. It has al ...

. The original fly was tied to resemble

smelt Smelt may refer to: * Smelting, chemical process * The common name of various fish: ** Smelt (fish), a family of small fish, Osmeridae ** Australian smelt in the family Retropinnidae and species ''Retropinna semoni'' ** Big-scale sand smelt ''At ...

, a common striped bass forage. The Deceiver is arguably the best known saltwater fly pattern in the world and in 1991 the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

honored Kreh’s creation with a postage stamp.

Origin

In the late 1950s, striped bass populations in the Chesapeake Bay were healthy and Lefty Kreh pursued them on a regular basis along the lower Eastern shore of the bay. He and his fishing partners faced a rather common issue with the big streamer flies of the time—feathers fouling around the hook. Saddle hackles secured near the eye of the hook, as was the common practice of the time, had a tendency to twist and foul around the hook bend during retrieves. Fouled flies rarely deceived the wily striped bass. Lefty’s goal as he put it was: "I'm going to design a fly that won't foul on the cast! It will have a fish shape, but can be made in many lengths. You can vary the color combinations; it will also swim well but when lifted for the back cast it will be sleek and have little air-resistance." The original Deceiver was all white and mimicked the prolific smelt that the Chesapeake Bay stripers foraged on.

Materials

The original Lefty's Deceiver was tied with white saddle hackles tied in at the bend of a standard, short shank saltwater hook. Four to six hackles were used with tips curved to the outside. Flash was added on top of the hackles. The original body was silver tinsel. A collar of white buck tail was layered at the top, sides and bottom of the front of the hook. The buck tail extended just beyond the hook bend.

Variations and sizes

In the 1960s when Lefty Kreh relocated to South Florida and began pushing the limits of saltwater fly fishing, the Deceiver grew in popularity and in variety. Today, the Deceiver is tied in an almost infinite number of color-material-size combinations. In 2012, Kreh published ''101 Fish—A Fly Fisher’s Life List'' detailing many of his fly fishing exploits around the world. A great majority of those species were caught on variations of the Lefty’s Deceiver. Fly tiers have recreated the pattern in a wide variety of colors and configurations to mimick the various fresh and saltwater

forage fish Forage fish, also called prey fish or bait fish, are small pelagic fish which are preyed on by larger predators for food. Predators include other larger fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Typical ocean forage fish feed near the base of the food ...

that larger fish feed upon.

Gallery

References

{{fisheries and fishing Streamer patterns Saltwater patterns