Newbie here,
I was looking at Harry Murray’s [url=http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/100702fotw.html:3a8f0]Strymph[/url:3a8f0]. Is he using rabbit dubbing, crosscut rabbit, blended rabbit, or some other type of product?
It is hair cut from the body and placed in a dubbing loop.
I took a class that tied these once. We used zonker strips. Cut the skin off after the hair was in the dubbing loop but before you twist it up.
wayne
Thanks. I want to tie some of these. H&H doesn’t seem to have just chunks of rabbit skin. At least I couldn’t find them on their site. Zonker strips it is.
I have found rabbit hides at AC Moore and Micheals craft stores. They came in white and natural brown. If you need other colors you can die them. I don’t recall the exact price but it was about $5-$7 a skin. You can also cut your out strips out of them and its a ton cheaper than buying precut strips.
I have tied this pattern and used it for several years and it is a very good pattern. It was created for bass, but, tied on a #10 or 12 hook, it will catch a lot of trout too. I always have this pattern with me no matter where I am fishing.
I fill the dubbing loop with rabbit fur cut from a skin or cut from a zonker strip but I have discovered that you can also use chenille and the fish do not seem to notice. Using chenille sure makes tying them a lot quicker.
Just my thoughts
WarrenP,
Do you shape the chenille like Skip does with the rabbit?
No…That is why using the chenille saves so much tying time. I put down a thread base on the hook shank, put 8 wraps of #25 lead wire on the shank, tie in the ostrich tail, tie in the chenille, wrap the chenille to the eye, tie in the hackle, form the collar and whip finish.
I have them tied with black tail, black chenille body and brown collar plus tied in olive with brown hackle collar.
I really have not seen any difference using the chenille or the cut and trimmed rabbit body as far as fish catching ratio.
You do not have to weight them. I just have a habit of weighting most of my patterns to get them down faster. The weight combined with a furled leader gets them down pretty quickly for me.
Try using chenille and see what happens and be sure to experiment with different color bodies and tails. This pattern is a “go-to” pattern for me and it has produced many fish.
WarrenP,
Thanks, I will give that a try.
I’m sorry…One more suggestion. I use a longer hackle for the collar than Skip does in the tying demostration. I think Mr. Murray’s hackle was a lot longer. I have the article for tying the Strymph and the hackle was at least back to the hook point. The article was in Fly Tyer magazine and I think it was the Fall 1998 or 1999 edition.
I will try and leave you alone now! 
I get “wound” up in my fly tying. I just love it.
Ask my wife, I get wound up about my new hobby as well. Long hackle is not a problem for me. My cheap(inexpensive) kit from Cabelas came with hackle that is mostly the right size for big hooks. Those big barbs look pretty funny tied on the little flies in the recipe booklet that came with it.
When Harrys’ book Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass came out in 1989, zonker strips were hard to find & most of the rabbit was already cut off the hide, so dubbing loops or just dubbing it on the thread & wrapping forwards & backwards along the hook shank & then forwards again to build up the body was how the flies were tyed. Sometimes sculpin wool would work, but then it was more like a Shenks’Sculpin. Black, cream & olive were the original colors & different rivers produced catches with certain colors better than the others. 8)
Im reviving this old thread for a question - Has anyone tried bunnybou instead of dubbing the rabbit hair?
http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php?store=feacraft&action=display&target=TR013
I saw this video, seems it may wrap like chenille, then you could trim it ito the carrot shape…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8_ni4gtTEQ
Warren I like the chenille idea also, I will try that
pillcaster,
I have no doubt that you could use the bunnybou, but, you will need to put it in a dubbing loop and then cut the rawhide off before twisting it up. If you just palmer the strip on the hook shank and then trim it to the body shape, I feel you will be able to see the rawhide strip. The fastest way to do this body style is to use the chenille in the large size and then trim the chenille to the cigar shape as the pattern calls for. For my “strymphs” I just use the standard chenille and do no trimming to make the cigar shape and they work fine. Every once in awhile I will tie some up using the instructions like the original pattern called for because the fly just looks good when the rabbit fur is trimmed. It is more time consuming though. When I do tie it following the original pattern, I cut the rabbit fur from a rabbit hide and use a dubbing loop. You end up with a big ball of rabbit fur but it is fun to trim and shape it. I have found whole rabbit pelts at Hobby Lobby. Hopes this helps.
Thanks Warren,
I tied one with with chenille, it looks pretty good…
So hows the new 5wt working out 
I really enjoy it. Matter of fact, for my smallmouth/largemouth fishing this coming year I plan to own their 7wt too! A very smooth casting rod that I really enjoy using.
Here’s a clear step by step tying sequence along with a video of tying the complete Murray’s Strymph using a rabbit dubbing loop.