Zonker Flies

I have a grab bag of assorted colors of rabbit hide. how thick do i cut these and what is the easiest way to cut them. What are your favorite patterns and their recipes from zonker strips

I like the Bi-Colored Bunny fly http://www.reel-time.com/forum/showthread.php?p=278642 Easier for me to tie than a Double Bunny; works great in fresh or saltwater; I tie the with dumbell eyes to get the hook to reide point-up; usually cut the strips about 1/8 inch, maybe a little thicker. Check out John Scott's Pine Squirrel Cheater and use your bunny fur, although the squirrel gives a different look that may be more effective under certain conditions http://flyanglersonline.com/bb/showt...tember-21-2009

Regards,
Scott

.... to the double bunny ( yes ) and the Pine Squirrel Cheater ( no ).

A definite thumb's up for tying Scott Sanchez' Double Bunny with rabbit. That is an easy and fun fly to tie ( you can forget the eyes, and forget the epoxy on the head, too ) and was good enough to get barred from the Snake River one fly contest after taking it three years running back in the mid 90's. I prefer olive over white and brown over yellow when I do get around to tying some.

A definite thumb's down for the PSC if you are tying with rabbit. I say that because I tied it with pine squirrel zonker after finding that rabbit hide was too thick to permit ( me, anyway ) wrapping it as a collar, which is the key to the PSC profile and effectiveness.

IF you have some rabbit with hide thin enough to tie the front half ( collar ) of the PSC properly, go for it. Another possibility if you want to try it with rabbit, if you are good at using a dubbing loop, is to tie in the rabbit zonker to mid shaft, then put the zonker in a dubbing loop with the hide very close to the loop, trim the hide off, spin the loop until satisfied with the hair being secure, then wrap the dubbing loop forward for the collar.

Can't help you on how to cut the rabbit, but I would suggest cutting some cross cut strips and some zonker strips.

John

As far as cutting goes...
The first key is to keep the hide very taut,,,
Use a sharp razor blade...single edge is OK but double edge is even sharper.....you can then free hand a single strip....incidentally you do this from the bare hide side.
If you want to do multiple strips at once there are various ways to make your own razor blade tool....it's been discussed quite a bit.

I cut all of mine with a razor blade and a straight edge. Hole it tight with a clip board. Cut from the back side,and try to just cut almost all the way through, then tear the strips apart. That way you don't cut any of the hair.

Here's some flies done with rabbit strips.

Buddy

This topic got me wondering, Does the cross cut vs "zonker cut" make a difference besides making the wrapping easier? Once it's all wet does it make a difference? I ask thinking of human hair and how the hair on my head is conditioned to lay a certain way dry but once it's wet it goes freely in whatever direction the water pushes it. I've got plenty of pre cut strips in different colors but would I really need to buy cross cut strips to match to tie that bi-color bunny or does it just require a little more care when tying in to keep the fur from getting wrapped over?

i tied the bi colored bunny with both crosscut and straight zonkers. looked almost the same

Just my opinion, but I think you can use the strips you have for the bi-color bunny flies without much worry - I'll qualify that by saying I've tied these mostly on large saltwater and freshwater hooks. For smaller flies it may be nicer to have the cross-cut rabbit because it "lays" easier on the hook as you palmer it up the shank (I don't have a lot of experience with smaller flies, so I'll leave that up to others to speak to). If I'm not using cross-cut rabbit, it helps to dip my fingers in water and stroke the fur back while winding it.

Regards,
Scott

I'll post a different take on crosscut strips...

I do not like them or use them at all. Even though I cut my own strips, and it would be easy to cut them that way.

Here's why:

Any strip, when wet, will lay back in the water when you strip it and be streamlined on the cast. The beauty of rabbit fur is that, when you stop it, it will flare or pulse out adding motion and bulk to the fly at rest.

When I use a palmered rabbit skin piece for a body, I want the hair to flare as close to 90 degrees from the body as possible when I stop it. That's the reason I use it, to get that pulsing bulk in the body. Since a croscut strip lays back naturally, it won't have the same breathing, pulsing action of one where the hairs naturally lay straight along the wrap axis. If I wanted the body to be streamlined, I'd tie it with something else.

I know that a fly tied with crosscut strips looks better 'dry' in the vise, but the fly only works when it's wet. It may be easier to tie with crosscut strips, but only marginally. I'll sacrifice a bit of time and take some care at the vise to get a fly that I believe will fish better in the water.

Up to you, but I've caught hundreds of fish on flies tied with bunny strips, and all of the strips were cut conventionally.

Buddy