Andino(ish) deceiver (Blurple)

[Mike Mead]

Hi all,
I'm tying up some back/purple patterns for estuarine (fast flowing tannin water) tarpon, and thought I'd take some photos for an "On the Bench".
It's an Andino deceiver styled fly - but I'm yet to use it outside of tests in the Swan River. So a disclaimer, they haven't caught a fish before.
I didn't like the rough heads on the Andino's so I've shaved it down more to a block / tarpon slider style.
The bulky profile/water pushing signature may translate to barramundi/murray cod fishing.....

Recipe (for the fly I tied - you can swap things out).
Hook - Size 5/0 Ahrex SA270 Bluewater, or something with a wide gape as the dumbbell eyes are inside the hook gape. I noticed the SA270's eyes are still a little open/sharp - so I may need to crush them down and epoxy as it looks like a chafing risk.
Thread - Standard black flat waxed 210 denier (Danville's in this case)
Eyes - Large dumbbells in the colour of your choice
Rattle - I didn't want the rattle on the hook to impede tying or hookups - so I've heat shrunk it to some 100lb mono, locked in with thread wraps and glue (haven't tried this method in the field before - so we'll see how it goes).

Step 1:
Tie in rattle at the back of the hook.

Step 2:
Tie in (black) bucktail top (as long as you have), and below (a little shorter). Tie in 3 or 4 strands (doubled over) of flash (Violet scale drop in this case)

Step 3:
Tie in four shortish saddle feathers, in the "tent" style. Two along the top (slightly, longer than the bucktail) and two slightly shorter ones below. I added the below ones to cover up the rattle. The "Bugger pack" from Whiting genetics are still the best feathers I found for these deceiver style ties.

[Mike Mead]

Step 4:
Tie in some purple bucktail with extra-long butts - to reverse tie back.
Add another few stands of flash (doubles over) and some longer thin saddles (purple grizzly in this case).

Step 5:
Reverse tie the bucktail over and lash down "bullet style" so it flairs. This will help with the transition of tail material with the bulkier head and give some support to the marabou.

Step 6:
Tie in a marabou collar. I initially made then tied this in as a brush, but it's easier and has the same result to just tie in the tufts directly - as you're not advancing it forward.

[Mike Mead]

Step 7:
Tie in your eye inside the gape. Leave enough room at the front for 1 clump of dear hair.

Step 8:
Tie in your deer hair - noting the first will remain as the collar and not be cut off - so align the tips. I put some wraps in over this first clump of tips (that will remain) to lay them back slightly. Keep advancing your deer hair stacks up the shank. I found it easier to tie the top then bottom in two clumps rather than spinning one big clump around the hook. For quantities, I just use clump sizes that feel easy to handle, as I find large clumps tricky.

[Mike Mead]

Step 9:
Tie off (whips can be hard so sometimes a few hitches need to do). Shave with a new razor blade. Use the eye and the hook barb as a guide to line it up. I didn't want the large bushy style of the Andino, so I trimmed it into a semi wedge - with the eyes guiding the thickness.

[Mike Mead]

Job complete.

I'll use a cautery tool to clean them up once the batch is done - and might put some UV resin across the top side of the deer hair to keep its shape.
Will see how they go...

[Liam Surridge]

Awesome stuff Mike

They look great. Keep us posted with the trip and pics etc...