05/12/2020
Mickey Finn Deceiver
Tom H. Logan
The Deceiver is a very versatile streamer pattern that is intended to imitate a small bait fish that will be attractive as prey for larger predatory fish. It typically is tied on larger sal with lighter colors of feathers and buck tail with a little flash, but it can be tied with any combination of colors and in any size from size 8-10 bronze hooks for bream and bass to 2/0 stainless steel hooks and larger for saltwater species. The Mickey Finn Deceiver, though, is tied on size 8 or 10 standard wet hooks in colors of orange-dyed badger hackles and yellow bucktail, more in the traditional colors of the historic Mickey Finn streamer pattern of the late 1930s in the Northeast US.
Materials:
Hook Daiichi 1550, Size 8 - 10
Thread Black Danville’s Fly-Master Waxed, 6/0 or 3/0
Wing Two Whiting Farms Orange-dyed Badger Freshwater Streamer Rooster Hackles, one strand of Crystal Flash Doubled 3 Times, Yellow Buck Tail
Head Black Thread/1/8” Hologram Eyes
Tie the Mickey Finn Deceiver as Follows:
Step 1. Bend the barb down as the hook is placed in the vise and start the thread directly behind the hook eye. Wrap the thread towards rear in side by side or touching wraps, counter spinning the thread to flatten. Wrap thread to approximately 3 eye widths behind the eye and leave thread hanging. This becomes the tie-in point for all materials and is where the back of the head begins.
Step 2. Select two hackle feathers and hold them in fingers of left hand with tips matching and bottom to bottom. Remove barbs from both sides of both feather shafts while holding the matched feather tips by left fingers. Leave barbs on the hackles at a length that is approximately twice the length of the hook shank (eye to hook bend). Hold paired feathers between left fingers at the point where the barbs remain and others have been removed. Tips should be even and the two hackle feathers should be bottom to bottom. The point just in front of where the barbs begin becomes the tie-in point for the hackles. Hold the paired hackles between the left thumb and middle finger with hackles horizontal to hook shank and barbs vertical. Place the paired hackles on top of the hook shank with the tie-in point of the hackles on top of where the thread is hanging. Make one soft thread wrap over the hackle shafts and pull upward to tighten slightly and make two more wraps forward and touching in the same manner. Note that the first soft thread wrap must be one thread wrap forward of rear-most wrap on shank for hackles to set properly. Leave the thread hanging and release hold on the hackles to see if they lay horizontal and with barbs vertical. The hackles may be adjusted for position by holding them by the feather tips and ends of the bare shafts and changing their position by shifting the tips and shafts slightly from side to side. Make three more forward and touching thread wraps when satisfied with position, cut remaining stubs of shafts, wrap thread to hook eye and then wrap in touching wraps rearward to original tie-in point. Do not wrap past or behind the original thread wrap.
Step 3. Prepare one strand of Crystal Flash by doubling twice and cutting with scissors at loops (4 shorter strands of equal length). Tie strands of Crystal Flash on near side and at mid-point of strands with three forward and touching thread wraps, double strands over to far side and wrap thread rearward in three touching wraps to tie-in point. Crystal Flash ends will extend approximately 2/3 length of hackles.
Step 4. Cut sparse bunch of yellow buck tail and generally even tips by holding butts in right fingers and grasping the longer tips in fingers of left hand. Pull long tips from bunch and then overlap both bunches to generally even tips. The tips do not need to match perfectly. Hold bunch in left fingers and cut butts, leaving bunch approximately the length from eye to approximate length of or slightly shorter than hackles. Hold bunch in left fingers on near side of rear tie-in point with butts short of eye, make three forward gentle wraps by pulling thread towards you with each wrap, continue touching thread wraps to eye and then back to tie-in point.
Step 5. Cut a second sparse bunch of yellow buck tail, generally even tips as in Step 4, and cut to length as in Step 4. Hold bunch in left fingers at tie-in point on far side and wrap thread forward in touching turns to eye and back to tie-in point as in Step 4.
Step 6. Cut sparse bunch of yellow buck tail, even, cut to length and tie in on top as in Step 4.
Step 7. Wrap thread in touching turns forward and rearward over the head until all hair butts are covered, build head as desired, finish with wraps to back of head, whip finish forward and cut thread tag with one scissor blade. Hold pliers directly over the head and compress head slightly from side to side to provide flat surface for attachment of eyes. Add eyes and seal/finish head with clear UV Curing Resin.
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