Big Fly Friday: The Double Deceiver

By: Adam Spence

Matt has been down with a group of guys on the White River flinging big streamers and mousing the nights away. I’m jealous. You should be too. In light of their trip, this week on Big Fly Friday we are going to dive into a pattern that seems to net a ton of big brown trout and is a great confidence fly when targeting anything predatory: the Double Deceiver. The Double Deceiver is not a beginner’s fly to tie, but shouldn’t be one a novice tyer avoids, especially with videos like this. Or, if you want to buy one to fish with or to use as a model while you tie, Mike Schmidt and Motown Fly are top notch.

Main target species: Brown Trout, Smallmouth Bass, Pike

Prime water to fish it in: The Double Deceiver is a big fly, generally between 6-8”, so a little bit of stain makes for some ideal conditions to tie one on. It fishes well in stillwater as well, so if you’re on a lake this should be in your boat box.

How to fish it: How you rig up will depend on a few things, but you will most likely want some sort of sinking line. I’ve found an intermediate line can get the job done in rivers that have moderate depth, or when fishing on a shelf or drop-off in a lake. When the river is high or you’re really trying to get down deep in stillwater, full sinking line is your ticket. If you don’t have the means to purchase several different lines or if you just don’t like carrying several spools while on the water, a couple of sinking leaders at different sink rates is the way to go.

Action: When you tie on a Double Deceiver, you’re tying on a streamer that has proven time and time again to fool big fish. The schlappen tail adds a nice, flowing natural movement of a smaller fish’s tail. The way you stack bucktail throughout this pattern creates a great profile, but it also adds movement to the fly. With the bucktail stacked, it helps the fly to sweep off to the side as you retrieve and pause. Using a variety of retrieve techniques helps the Double Deceiver to look and act like an easy meal for a predator.

Colors: Color combos are going to depend a lot on where you are and what type of prey is in the water. Chartreuse/White, Black/Purple, Gray/White, and Red/White are your generally fishy colors I like to have in my box. If you’re targeting browns and you’re fishing water with a healthy rainbow population, Olive/Pink/White is a great option and so is the cotton candy pattern. Some of the biggest brown trout I’ve ever seen have fallen victim to Brown/Yellow or Olive/Yellow.