AS SEEN IN THE MARCH/APRIL 2006 ISSUE

As avid fly-fishermen and fly tiers, all of us have vivid images which instantly pop into our heads when certain words are mentioned. Even a hint of “saltwater” or “fishing,” and immediately every fly fisher who has ever plied his craft in the brine visualizes images of a favorite species or pattern. 

As avid fly-fishermen and fly tiers, all of us have vivid images which instantly pop into our heads when certain words are mentioned. Even a hint of “saltwater” or “fishing,” and immediately every fly fisher who has ever plied his craft in the brine visualizes images of a favorite species or pattern. Further refine this thought process by narrowing it down to, “fly fishing on a flat in the Florida Keys,” and instantly you visualize a similar, yet different set of images. If you’re like me, you probably see yourself perched on a casting platform while silently hovering over a crystal clear flat somewhere off of Islamorada. Sixty-feet to your right a single mangrove branch protrudes from the otherwise feature-less surface. Off to the side of the branch, the sharp tip of a bonefish’s tail invitingly wiggles as if saying “I’m right over here dummy.” You picture yourself standing motionless in an attempt to gauge the grazing fish’s next move. You know if you’re lucky, at best you’ll only have a single shot. You can make up the ending of the scenario all on your own…

For genuine enthusiasts, when the topic of saltwater fly fishing is brought up in conversation, one of our first thoughts should be of fly fishing extraordinaire, Lefty Kreh. And along with Lefty, come the immediate images of his world famous and undisputedly, most popular saltwater fly pattern of all time – Lefty’s Deceiver.

Deceivers are icons in the world of saltwater fly fishing. Any serious long-sticker should have a selection of Deceivers in the arsenal, no matter where he or she is fishing. What makes this legendary fly so special is that it isn’t limited by exclusivity to any one particular area or any one particular species and can be fished in just about any environment.

According to Lefty, he developed the Deceiver in the mid to late 1950s, after complaining to his frequent fly fishing companion, Tom Cofield, the continuous fouling problems he was experiencing with winged flies. Lefty said he finally decided to take matters into his own hands and design a pattern that would not foul on the cast, had a ‘fishy’ silhouette, and could be tied in many sizes, a fly that would swim well under water and would be sleek with very little wind resistance. A bit of experimenting later, and the Deceiver was born.

The initial series of Lefty’s Deceivers were quite primitive, consisting of nothing more than four to eight saddle hackles tied in at the back, and a simple collar constructed of either bucktail or calftail. Red thread was always used and the fly was generally pure white. One of the first changes that took place several years after the original design, was tying on a red collar. Worthy of mention; one of, if not the most important aspect when tying a Lefty’s Deceiver, is that the collar extends well past the bend of the hook. This not only helps with the overall profile of the fly, but helps to prevent the tail from fouling.

In 1964, Lefty moved to Miami where he met Capt. Mack McChristian who introduced him to the wonders of Mylar. Lefty soon added the attraction of the flashy material into his pattern. Today, many versions of Lefty’s Deceiver have a Mylar body which is wrapped over the shank of the hook and over a topping of peacock hurl. I should add that Lefty mentioned his favorite recipe when tying a Deceiver is to add a grizzly feather on the outside of the tail and a beard (gills) of red crystal flash. When fishing the fly in deeper water, he recommended synthetic material such as Unique Hair which generally produces better results than more opaque, natural materials.

The past several years, Lefty has also had excellent success in relatively deeper water by making a cone-head version of the Deceiver. Regardless, with the many changes that have occurred to the Deceiver over the decades, Lefty still swears by his favorite color combinations of chartreuse over white or chartreuse over yellow.

When tying the Deceiver, keep in mind the vast majority of baitfish have lightly colored bellies and sides with darker coloration patterns on top, so you will have to use the appropriate color combinations and size to match-the-hatch in your particular area(s). By changing the amount of materials used, you can also create Lefty’s Deceiver with whatever type of profile you would like such as allowing the fly to sink, or ride just below the surface. You can be left with a very small, slim profile to match a juvenile sardine, or a big, bulky bait mimicking large whitebait.

One of the latest variations of Lefty’s Deceiver is Bob Popovics’ Bucktail Deceiver. This version uses only bucktail and is quick & easy to tie. The pattern is created by tying on a bucktail tail section and then adding shorter clumps of bucktail along the hook shank so the hair completely surrounds the entire hook. Gills are added as well as a different color wing.

For clarification purposes, Lefty’s Deceiver is actually a tying style and not one particular definitive pattern. Lefty’s Deceiver can be tied in an unlimited variety of colors, lengths, natural or synthetic materials, and can be patterned to represent any type of baitfish. And what predator in state waters doesn’t eat baitfish? It’s no wonder Lefty’s Deceiver is the most copied fly tying style of all time.

“Del Brown’s Marvelous Merkin”

With those same thoughts of shallow water fly fishing we talked about earlier, we can’t help but also think of giant silver tarpon taking off like runaway freight trains, fly line disappearing off the deck from bonefish running like mad, and of course saltwater fly fishing’s most challenging quarry, the elusive permit.

Permit roaming saltwater flats, not those found hovering over deep-water wrecks, are considered the ultimate challenge for the fly fisher. They are the most difficult to entice of all thin water targets - skitterish, wary, and the most scrutinizing when it comes to snatching a fly. To catch permit on fly requires skill, knowledge and a dedicated mindset, pursuing them to the exclusion of all other species. Flats permit are the status symbol of saltwater fly fishing, the one species that gives unmistakable credentials to one's outstanding skill and accomplished angling stature. They are the true "Ghost of the Flats," as difficult to see and catch as any phantom.

In addition, there are many species that are fished for on the flats and in the shallow waterways outlining the Sunshine State. The vast majority of these fish have one thing in common – they feed on crabs. Well, if you’re an aspiring pro in the world of saltwater fly fishing, one of the first images that should pop into your head should be of the most popular and undisputedly most effective crab pattern on the globe – Del Brown’s Permit Fly, commonly called the Merkin.

Capt. Jan Isley, famous Florida Keys fishing guide who ventured off to create a fishing camp in Ascension Bay, Mexico, is the first fly tier I know of who used yarn for creating a crab body. According to my sources, Isley actually started with Christmas yarn from a Hallmark store. The late Del Brown, who is individually credited for taking more permit on fly than anyone else on the face of the planet, took a strong liking to the style and designed his own innovative permit fly, the Merkin.

The Merkin is the most prolific crab imitation in use today. Like the Deceiver, the Merkin is another fly tying style, one that uses yarn for the body, marabou and feathers for the tail, and tied-in rubber legs. Aunt Lydia’s Sparkle yarn is highly recommended when creating the pattern, but any acrylic yarn will do. Acrylic yarn is stiffer than antron and leaves you with a much more durable fly.

The yarn body of the Merkin is tied along the hook shank by placing the yarn on the top of the hook and crisscrossing the wraps. The tail section is made of marabou and several short strands of crystal flash with a short feather on each side. The body is then trimmed, barbell eyes tied on, and legs tied-in between the pieces of yarn. The shape may be left alone or combed out.

For whatever reason, chartreuse is the most popular color thread most often seen on a Merkin. Originally tied in tan with alternating bands of tan and brown yarn, as I mentioned the Merkin was initially designed specifically as a permit fly, and it has proven to be a damn good one! The original pattern was round, but Del later tapered the body to get the fly to sink faster with a more natural appeal.

Winston Moore, who has been fly-fishing for close to 80 years, makes a strong point about crab flies in reference to precisely where the weight should be placed on the fly. While barbell eyes are generally tied close to the eye of the hook, Winston preferred the weight be set further back on the hook shank. By doing so, the fly sinks much more naturally, and is something for you to think about while you’re standing at the bench.

While the Merkin was in-fact initially conceived for permit, it has proved itself as a ‘go-to’ pattern for just about any species that feast on crabs. In addition to permit, tarpon, snook, and redfish regularly fall victim to a Merkin. The pattern has also accounted for numerous trophy size bonefish and is becoming one of the most popular flies for that species.

Merkins can be tied in just about any color or size and can be weighted to sink slow, medium, or fast. The angler doing the fishing will have to determine the ideal combination for any given situation. Just like its baitfish counterpart, the Deceiver, the Merkin is one of the most copied tying styles in the country.

You might be confused why I keep referring to Lefty’s Deceiver and Del Brown’s Merkin as tying styles. A tying style encompasses more than just the materials used in the original version of the pattern or any evaluations thereof. Just because there is a different material used or some slight variation in the tying of the fly, does not mean that a new pattern has been created. On the contrary, it’s nothing more than a variation of the original.

While there is absolutely nothing wrong with tying variations of any style of tying or pattern, you need to be very careful as a tier that you do not take credit for something that isn’t your original design. One way to circumvent this is to say that the pattern is your variation or adaptation of that particular fly. i.e. Dan’s Dangerous Deceiver .

Back in the day there used to be a level of unspoken ethics in fly tying circles when everyone was extremely careful not to step on other tier’s toes. That doesn’t seem to be the case today. Plagiarism seems to have run rampant with many people claiming recognition for designing new flies which are actually nothing more than variations of old, proven patterns. Most of these tiers have done nothing more than copied or duplicated someone else’s fine work, made one minor alteration, and are suddenly attempting to take all the credit for developing an entirely new and effective fly pattern.

Nonetheless, with the advent of all these ‘new’ flies, the original patterns continue to be extremely productive. Lefty’s Deceiver has been fooling fish for 50 years and is still doing so today. Del Brown’s Merkin has become the standard by which all crab patterns are judged. Variations of both will continue, but I have a feeling the originals will be top producers for quite some time to come.

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