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Double Deceiver
A streamer, tied #2–6, carried year round. It imitates nothing in particular, which is the point: it is what goes on when no hatch matches the water temperature.
A long baitfish profile carrying almost no weight: two articulated hooks in sizes 2–6 joined by wire, the rear section long saddle hackles with flash and a bucktail collar, the front the same again with a bucktail head and eyes, all on white 6/0 thread. Length without heft is the whole design — the fly is large in silhouette but light in material, so it stays up in the water column and keeps moving on a fast strip instead of dropping between pulls. That continuous motion is what it offers for fish that follow but will not commit. It is a big-water streamer for big fish, carried all season, and it takes trout and smallmouth bass. It is tied against no particular insect or baitfish in this book: it imitates nothing specific and goes on when no hatch matches the water, working as a searching pattern on its profile and speed alone.
- #2–6Hook size
- streamerType
- AllSeason
- —Hatches matched
What it imitates
It is also tagged for no hatch at all — a searching pattern.
Tying recipe
In tying order. This dressing is the standard one — these patterns have been in the publicrecord for decades — and materials substitute freely: the proportions and the silhouette are the pattern, not the brand of dubbing.
| Hook | Two hooks, articulated, sizes 2–6 |
|---|---|
| Thread | White 6/0 |
| Rear | Long saddle hackles, flash, bucktail collar |
| Joint | Wire |
| Front | The same, with a bucktail head and eyes |
When to fish it
A long baitfish profile with very little material weight. Big water, big fish, and a fast strip.
Carried all year.
Target species
- Trout
- Smallmouth bass
Rivers it fishes well
Rivers with a page here that sit in the regions where the insects this pattern imitates are recorded — which, for a searching pattern, is all of them. It is a claim about coverage, not a report of a fish caught.
- Au Sable River northern lower Michigan · July mean 72.1°F
- Catawba River the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Jackson River the Virginia mountains · July mean 66.3°F
- Muskegon River northern lower Michigan · July mean 71.0°F
- Escanaba River the Upper Peninsula · July mean 68.3°F
- Saint Croix River northern Wisconsin · July mean 77.2°F
- Smith River the Virginia mountains · July mean 51.9°F
- Tygart Valley River the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.6°F
- Kalamazoo River southern lower Michigan · July mean 71.3°F
- Aaron Creek the North Carolina mountains · July mean 76.7°F
- Aaron Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 77.1°F
- Aarons Run the Virginia mountains · July mean 74.2°F
Related patterns
Same type of fly, or tied for the same insects.
- Black Ghost streamer · #4–10 — A classic bucktail for stained water and low light.
- Circus Peanut streamer · #2–6 — Articulated, rubber-legged, unapologetic. A Michigan big-brown fly.
- Game Changer streamer · #2–6 — Segmented and it swims on its own. Slow water, big fish, a lot of patience.
- Kreelex streamer · #2–8 — All flash. For coloured water where the fish has to find it before it sees it.
- Mickey Finn streamer · #4–10 — Red and yellow, no pretence at imitation. Works on dropping water after rain.