Bucktail Deceiver

[fish]

Simplistic patterns with a limited variety of materials have proved to be consistent takers of fish allover the globe. After all, real fish was created using fish. The Bucktail Deceiver originated by Bob Popovics requires, as the name implies bucktail and flash, that is it. The profile of the fly imitates the general profile of baitfish, together with the natural movement of the buck tail, this fly is sure to fool many saltwater fish.

Recipe

Hook: 1/0 – 3/0 saltwater hook like Mustad Tarpon C68SSS and Gamakatsu SC12S
Thread: Clear mono or 6/0 colour to match fly
Tail: White Bucktail
Body: Bucktail - Chartreuse, Red, Pink, Grey, Olive
Flash: Flashabou
Eyes: Stick on eyes.

Step 1

Tie in a bunch of bucktail at the hook bend, approximately 2.5 times the hook shank length. Apply some head cement to the thread wraps.

Step 2

Tie in the flashabou, extending slightly past the tail.

Step 3

Tie in a second bunch of bucktail. This bucktail should extend half way down the first bunch and should be evenly spread around the hook shank.

Step 4

Follow up the second bunch of white bucktail with chartreuse bucktail, also extending half way down the length of the white bucktail. This ensures the correct taper in the finished fly.

Step 5

Repeat the previous two steps up to the hook eye, applying head cement on the thread wraps. Create a tapered head and whip finish.

Step 6

Add stick on eyes and cover the head with epoxy. Permanent marker pens can also be used for different colour effects.

[Conrad Botes]

This is an excellent pattern, very mullet-like. Nice SBS! Lefty Kreh voted this popovics pattern as his favourite streamer in Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Magazine.

I like to tie my deceivers with a tail of 2 or 3 white schlappen hackles for more movement, tan bucktail for a more mullet like appearance. And finishing it off with dubbed SF blend head (mullet brown). Can be tied 5 - 15 cm in length, sparse or bulky.

[Gaza]

This pattern are a must in all fly boxes. It is a timeless fishing taking machine!

[petercoetzee]

here's my bluewater mullet lefty's

[Conrad Botes]

"The Bucktail Deceiver has become my preferred 'newish' streamer pattern in both fresh and saltwater. Conceived by the great fly tyer, Bob Popovics, this fly offers a number of attributes. It is made with just a hook, a small amount of mylar flash, bucktail and tying tread.

It is virtually weightless, so it casts easily with lighter lines and rods. False casts quickly dry the fly, and it parachutes to the water as silently as a mouse walking on cotton.

This makes the Bucktail Deceiver a superior fly for situations requiring a delicate entry, such as when targeting laid up tarpon. Because it suspends itself, it lifts silently from the water and doesn't spook fish.

Tied correctly, it has a rounded baitfish shape and virtually no air resistance when cast. Tied with lots of bucktail it almost suspends in water. Dressed sparsely, it sinks well. Best of all: anyone who can tie a fly can tie this one!"

- Lefty Kreh

[Conrad Botes]

I began fly-fishing in 1947 and have fished many waters around the planet. As you might imagine, I have seen and fished a lot of fly patterns - some good, some bad and a few that were outstanding.
I have watched fly tiers around the globe, and I believe that Bob Popovics is the most innovative ever. Most tiers take conventional materials and create new patterns, but Popovics uses all sorts of materials and develops new concepts to produce a variety of flies that catch fish. Best of all, almost all of his patterns are easy to learn and quick to tie. I have said for years that if a fly takes more than seven or eight minutes to complete, I won't tie it.
About two years ago, Popovics sent me a fly he had just developed. At first glance I wasn't impressed, but when I tied a few and watched them in the water, I really became intrigued. Having now used this fly in fresh and salt water throughout the United States, Canada, Nicaragua and Cuba, I think that this may be one of the best patterns he has ever created. Certainly it is the most effective new streamer fly I have fished in the past decade. Popovics calls his new fly the Bucktail Deceiver, or BTD.
The most important quality of any good pattern is that it appeals to fish - and this one has proven itself on numerous species. Further, a good fly should be simple to tie, and the BTD is especially easy, even for novices. The best patterns also cast smoothly and don't foul. I've made thousands of casts with this fly, and it fouled less than a dozen times. Of course, a great fly should be constructed from materials that are easily obtained and relatively inexpensive, and few materials are more readily available than bucktail. In the water, an effective fly needs to "swim" realistically and have a nice shape when retrieved, and I have seen few flies that have a subtler and more seductive action than the BTD. In addition, you can tie this fly in almost any length, with or without weight. The Bucktail Deceiver has many other incredible attributes, but I think you can already see it has a lot to offer.
To tie it you need only a bucktail, some flash and a hook - for flies longer than 3 1/2 inches I prefer to use a long shank hook. If you want to fish the fly just below the surface or you want it to suspend in the water, I suggest using a thinner hook. To fish deeper in the water column, use a heavier-gauge hook. If you dress the pattern sparsely, it resembles a sand lance or other sleek baitfish, and it sinks fairly fast.

I rarely get excited about a fly pattern, but I can tell you I'm tying a number of BTDs in different sizes and color combinations (I really like an all-white wing and body with a chartreuse collar) for future trips. I urge you to try Popovics' Bucktail Deceiver - you won't be disappointed.

[Conrad Botes]

Here is "Fly fishing in Salt waters" SBS for the BTD:

http://www.flyfishinsalt.com/techniq...ver-37593.html