Two questions actually. When tying double bunnies what should I use to glue the two zonker strips together? What if I don’t glue them? Will the fly look and behave right in the water wthout the strips glued?
This may help: http://flyguysoutfitting.com/doublebunny.html
Tim
Nice link Panman, Great close up and clear pics.
FF, I’ve never tied one, but I suspect gluing the tails together will reduce the chance of fouling the tail in the hook bend during casting.
After going through the tying steps in the posted link, That pattern just got added to my, “Patterns to try” list. I’ll bet that’s a killer bass fly in the right colors.
tear mender adhesive
That link you provided scared the heck out of me.
Haven’t tied Double Bunnies lately, because I still have a few left in my box. Scott Sanchez’ original is much simpler than the one shown in the link. After watching Scott tie the Double Bunny a couple times, I simplified it further to make a very durable and effective Double Bunny with four things in about four steps.
Hook, thread, crystal flash, rabbit zonkers in your choice of colors, and Tearmender, as linked by Norman. Eyes are nice but probably don’t help, and an epoxy head is classy as all get out, and probably doesn’t help either.
Lay down a good thread base on the hook to help strengthen the adhesive effect of the Tearmender.
Size the bottom zonker. Punch a hole in it where you want the tail to extend beyond the hook and stick the hook through it. Tie the front of the zonker to the hook right behind the eye.
Size the top zonker. Tie it to the shank just behind the eye.
Apply a generous coating of Tearmender to both zonkers and give it a few seconds to set up. Then press the zonkers together and hold firmly long enough for the Tearmender to set.
Loop several strands of crystal flash over the tying thread and wrap the thread around the hook several times to secure the crystal flash. Pull the flash back either side of the hook and wrap back on it a few turns to keep it in place. You can build up a head at this point, if you care to do so, or just whip finish.
John
John - Like Bass Bug I have never tied one. The reason I decided to pass the link on is the info about using glue on the fly.
Tim
Just so there is no misunderstanding, I’m glad you posted the link and I’m sure a lot of other folks will also enjoy and appreciate it.
John
FF,
There are lot of different ways to tie a ‘double bunny’.
I tie mine sorta of like John does, no ‘body wrapping’. But I tie mine with lead eyes and inverted so the hook point is ‘up’. Also, I only allow the top strip to extend past the hook. I like the action in the water better with only one strip extended. I glue the two strips toegther along and around the hook shank with flexible CA glue (you can get it at model train stores, what we used to call ‘hobby shops’). I also forgo the flash material on most of them.
Since I fish them mostly for bass, I often add a weedguard.
This is one of my go in and get them out of the cover flies. I lose a lot of them, and like to keep them simple and quick to tie.
Darned effective fly.
Buddy
Black over chartreuse, or blue over white just the way Buddy ties them and I use tear mender. I also tend to loose them pretty often so I like to not put to much time or effort into the flies so they can be a little more sacrificial. If I am tying them for the shop I add a head of sorts and tie them more traditional except I add a few strands of krystal flash in between the two strips to come out the back of the fly as well as a couple of lateral scale strips down the side.
Steve
I do mine just like the demo in the link. I will also add Marabou, or Mallard collar.
Burnt Orange on the top, Red Sparkle Chenille around hook and Black on bottom. I think
it would work in reverse as well
Thanks guys. I appreciate the tips and suggestions.
Jeff