I am looking for a pattern that has the body made from crosscut rabbit and tail from a zonker strip.
I feel pretty sure this is out there some place, but I just have not found it yet and I need to make some jigs like this and feel sure there is a fly made like this already and just want to see how they did it.
Thanks,
Skip
You mean a bunny leach?
This might be something like you are looking for.
Barr’s Meat Whistle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZmZGf8OwNw)
I guess a lot like that, but a little different. Here is a pic of a jig that is my first attempt, but I think the tail maybe needs to be a little longer. I would also like to see someone’s recipe for something like this so I maybe find a better way to tie these.
Skip
It said that video is moved or gone.
Skip
Skip,
Tye some rattlers (http://p068.ezboard.com/ftrouttalkfrm17.showMessage?topicID=90.topic). I have been doing really well this fall on lower elk stripping these at night (1 am to 4 am). I tie them without deer hair and use barred white rabbit strips with glo flashabou as a wing over the bunny body. They do get really heavy if you are using metal beads on the stinger. I usually alternate glass/metal/glass/metal/etc or go all glass. If you strip with short jerks the beads act like a rattle and really entice some aggresive chrome strikes.
Sounds like a “fur fly?” Crosscut rabbit wound on then trimmed and a turn of peacock at the front? Great frog pattern .
I agree with setnhooked. Rattlesnake streamers are deadly. You can find the recipe in “Modern Streamers For Trophy Trout”. I tie them a bit differently, using Swarovski Crystals instead of Tungstn beads. The two top producers are the Mottled Olive/Amber Crystal, and the Black/Red Crystal. Black/Blue Crystal for Bass !!! The hogs will peel out and explode on this. The nice thing is that it is an articulated streamer; the fish will not hit it short, but will hook very nicely on the stinger !!!
Northern Pike & Musky love them too !!!
Sorry Skip.
Skip,
No reason why you couldn’t just tie a Bunny Leech on a jig head to get the effect you want, or any of the Barr variants such as Meat Whistle or Slump Buster. Just use a Zonker strip for the tail, about 1-1.5 the length of the shank, and then tie in a crosscut strip of rabbit (or use squirrel for smaller flies) perpendicular to the hook, and palmer it forward and tie off. at the head. I typically like using Zonker strip for the whole fly, because it creates a larger profile, but either way works. In the Pacific NW, there are a lot of steelheaders playing around with jigs, so you might want to check out some of those sites as well. They are predominantly using marabou in their patterns.
Luck.
Skip, what you have there looks like what one would expect of a fly/jig tied with those two materials…maybe a bit longer on the zonker strip as you indicated. (That wasn’t a criticism, by the way…your creation really looks nice!)
I have noticed that some similar flies I’ve seen on various websites (not on jigheads, but should work just the same) are tied with a turn or two of marabou palmered near the head, just to give some additional interesting color options.
Thanks I will look up the ones you mentioned. I have also thought about using the Zonker all the way and will probably make some like that, but I do like having the choice of using two different colors. Maybe a all Black top and a FL Chartreuse tail. Or chartreuse top and a Blue tail.
Have not really looked into steelhead guys and what they use, but sounds like a good idea to check that out.
Thanks again,
Skip
There is a pattern in the Fly of the Week archives here on FAOL which uses both crosscut rabbit and zonker strips. It is the Lithuanian Bat Do a search and it should come up.
Enjoy it, it is a great fly with fantastic action. I posted this probably between 1999 and 2001 if I remember correctly.
If you’re looking for a good LMB, SMB zonker fly, try this variation of a Gartside. Tie down the zonker strip with three or so inches extending past the bend of the hook, then palmer up to about an 1/8 in from the eye. Tie it off. Then prepare a door knocker piece of foam, same color as the strip. Yellow is great for smallies, black for LMB. To prepare foam, slice a quarter inch width of the door knocker, then do an angle cut on one end at about 40 degrees. Poke a hole just up from the bottom edge of the angle cut long enough to leave a decent lip. Turn it upside down from the cut angle and poke the hook eye through the hole and lay the foam back across the palmered shank. At the bend, tie down the back of the foam and cut off back to fit. Hit the underside of this thread with Zap-a-Gap to hold in place. To make it weedless, turn the entire foam portion 180 degrees before Zapping. This will cause the fly to fish upside down, ie weedless. This is a “Wiggle Worm.” A variation of the Wiggle Bug and a zonker “worm.” It fishes much like the old Lazy Ikes with a quite snake-y action of the worm. One of my best producers this past summer and fall. You get bubbles. You get the snake-y action. It floats until stripped, then sashsays underwater. Try it, and I think you’ll be quite pleased. JGW
Skip,
Sorry I mistakenly took your name for another Skip that lives in Erie, PA (hence mentioning Elk Creek). My apologies!
Look at the 1st Quarter 1999 archive of the Fly of the Week for the Lithuanian Bat pattern.
Not to worry and no need to apologize.
Thanks everyone for your input!
Skip
This has worked well for me here in our part of the world. its just a piece of zonker strip for the tail and I then spun the zonker hair in a dubbing loop and wind forward. End it off with some deer hair. Quick to tie.
after a few fish.
Proof is in the pudding 
Some more versions
