Rabbit Flies

[mdrew9]

I have been trying to use some rabbit strips in alot of my flies, both for freshwater and saltwater.
Mike

[C. GIll]

I like the black bunny version of Popovic's Semper Fleye--I do the same thing, but have not had a chance to fish it yet. Have you?

[mdrew9]

Nope they are all brand new.

[MKDeceiver]

tan rabbit fur on shrimp flies gets Stripers going crazy...

[Mark Cahill]

that have long rabbit strips...basically eel imitations. The problem I have is they tend to wrap themselves around the hook. Talk about art imitating life...

Luckily, they don't go as far as recreating the famed "eel knot" but they do tend to wrap pretty well when they're wet, which is every single cast...

It may just be my flies...

[mdrew9]

These all have mono to help prevent fouling

[lemaymiami]

Here's a simple solution to rabbit strip fllies that should cure most of your fouling problems. Instead of using a mono loop, I've been using a sparse amount of bucktail under the rabbit. It works wonders and, if it's the same color as the rabbit is almost invisible... Here's the technique: before adding that rabbit strip tail, tie in a small bunch of bucktail that is rolled completely around the shank of the hook and almost as long as the strip you're going to tie in. I then add any flash on top of the bucktail, then the rabbit strip goes directly on top of that. It helps to add a small drop of super glue (Krazy glue) to where the bucktail and flash are tied in just before adding the rabbit strip....

One thing about rabbit strips that is rarely mentioned is that there are different grades of rabbit pelt and most commercially available "zonker strips" aren't particularly suited for saltwater applications. I look for pelts that have the thickest skin or leather possible, then cut my own strips. Of course the longer the tail the more the bug will tend to have fouling problems...

[tyguy]

Another method to keep your tail where it belongs (hey, that sounds like my Dad when I was a teenager...) ;) is to tie a length of heavy mono on top of the hook shank, maybe about the length of the shank itself or less. Tie in the rabbit strip, then poke a small hole through the hide about 1/8 inch back from the end of the mono. Poke the mono through the hole from underneath the strip, then melt a ball on the end of the mono, making sure to keep the hair away from the flame. :eek:

[mdrew9]

Ty I have tried that method before, but I melted the mono before I put it through the rabbit, then I tied it on.

[tyguy]

Ty I have tried that method before, but I melted the mono before I put it through the rabbit, then I tied it on.

Yeah, that's probably the better way to do it - no chance of flaming hair that way... :)