Lefty's Deceiver

[Mark]

Yesterday Bass Pro at Arundel Mills hosted a celebration of Lefty Kreh's life. Many speakers told their stories of their associations with Lefty to highlight the tremendously positive mark he left upon their lives and our sport. As I listened to their tributes I thought that each of us can only hope to be so well respected in our lives.

The Free State Fly Fishers were present to tie Lefty's signature fly, Lefty's Deceiver. Here are the FSFF tiers at their station:

Bass Pro G.jpg Bass Pro H.jpg

And here's a small sample of the Deceivers we tied:

Bass Pro B.jpg

We produced Deceivers for 3 to 4 hours and provided them to the many attendees of the celebration in honor of Lefty.

I'd like to note that Bass Pro provided all the materials for the flies at no cost to the club. Plus, Bass Pro employees and contributors to this forum, EMSer (Bruce) and On the Fly (Harry), were excellent hosts ensuring that we had adequate space, lighting and as mentioned all the materials we needed.

Here's a handout Bass Pro provided about Lefty's Deceiver:

Bass Pro I.jpg

It notes that Lefty developed the fly 60 years ago to entice Chesapeake stripers. It's not difficult to tie and clearly it will present an attractive target to stripers. We speak here often of new lures and flies. Certainly, advances in materials give us new ways to trick our prey. But tried and true lures and flies continue to work well and the Deceiver is in that category for sure. I plan to give it a workout this fall.

Anyway, thanks to Bass Pro, Harry, Bruce, and my FSFF friends for a very nice day.

[clm]

That's great. Looks like it was a good time.

[Mark]

That's great. Looks like it was a good time.

Thank you. It absolutely was.

[EMSer]

Mark,

Thanks for your kind words. It was truly a group effort. FSFF's presence only added to, what was, an outstanding event. While few of us could ever hope to mirror Lefty's impact, it was incredibly refreshing to hear the endless stream stories of how he impacted so many lives.

We started a commemorative guest book that was signed by many in attendance. We intend to find it a worthy home - either with Lefty's family or amongst other Lefty memorabilia that will eventually be on public display. I invite anyone who would like to share their thoughts on what Lefty meant to you, to ask at the fly shop counter and add your remembrances.

[DanMarino]

Nice going guys. I've never tied that fly before. Mostly because I don't have the materials needed. When you give it a try, please post the results back. I'm curious how it casts and how deep it retrieves.

[Mark]

Nice going guys. I've never tied that fly before. Mostly because I don't have the materials needed. When you give it a try, please post the results back. I'm curious how it casts and how deep it retrieves.

Tom,

I apologize for the sideways presentation of the photo in my post with Bass Pro's written description of the fly. I don't know why that happens from time to time on this forum. But it says Lefty's intent in designing the Deceiver was to stop the saddle hackle from fouling the hook. He did that by tying it at the hook bend in lieu of the eye. He also recommended twisting the hackle at the tie-in point. That simple step makes attaching it to the hook much easier. It's the liveliness of that hackle pulsating in the water behind the hook point that gives the fly extraordinary life.

This video shows how to tie it. Toward the end it has segment showing how the fly looks underwater:

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/s...72&action=view

Unlike a Clouser Minnow it has no lead eyes. It rides with the hook point down. Indeed it feels much lighter than a similarly sized Clouser. We tied them on 2/0 hooks. However many variations exist and some tiers wrap lead wire around the hook shank as a preliminary step to make them sink faster and deeper.

I will try them unweighted because of the ease of casting an unweighted fly and because my typical target striper sites are shallow. If I need to get them deeper I will use intermediate line.

[Cluelessandfly]

What a great event and nice celebration of Lefty.

I always fish deceivers with a sink tip or full sinking depth charge line (300 grain) when fishing Fletchers Cove for striper. If I'm going for striper in the shallows of the tidal rivers, I tend to opt for clousers or half and halfs on a floating line(like the name suggests, it is half clouser, half deceiver...two of the most productive flies out there).

[Yakmac]

Mark,

What an awesome tribute by the FSFF. Looking at the video I understand why it is successful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[baitball]

That’s a good-looking fly Mark.

Thanks for sharing the write up on this event, as well as the attached instructional link. I’m looking forward to trying out fly-casting for the first time this fall.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mark]

Thanks Manny.

I'll be glad to show you how to fling a fly line if you'd like the help.

[baitball]

Thanks Mark. I’ll take you up on that offer - and in return I’ll provide a frosty beverage of your choice :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Mark]

Thanks Mark. I’ll take you up on that offer - and in return I’ll provide a frosty beverage of your choice :-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

PM me when ready.

[baitball]

Will do


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk