The Bunny Fly is a probably one of the most versatile and well known fly
patterns used in the last two decades by anglers all over the world. The
bunny fly can be fished in almost any environment from the saltwater
coastlines to the tranquil riverbanks of our favorite small streams. The
reason for the great success of these patterns in such varying conditions
comes from the use of unique materials and durable construction.
Due to the fact that bunny flies are well known for their fish catching
ability, the general tying techniques and looks for the pattern differ
from region to region. Although this difference is noticeable, a few key
features can always be found in bunny flies. First, is the use of rabbit
strips for the tail and body of the fly. As you probably already realized
this is where the fly gets its descriptive name from.
Another key characteristic of bunny flies is the life-like action produced
by the rabbit strips in the water. Most first time users of the fly swear
that the fly seems to be swimming all on its own.
The super bunny fly is just my personal version of this very popular fly
pattern. With this particular bunny pattern, a technique has been
incorporated to make the body of the fly denser and thicker, while at the
same time getting rid of the rawhide backing of the zonker strips. This
rawhide backing on the rabbit strips becomes water logged after a few
minutes and makes casting these flies a nightmare due to the extra weight.
Also a small 4 mm rattle has been incorporated into body design to help
attract even the most sluggish of predators.
|
Super Bunny |
| Hook: |
Mustad Salt Size 2 |
| Thread: |
Uni-Thread Chartreuse 6/0 |
| Tail: |
Zonker Strips (White/ Chartreuse) |
| Body: |
Zonker Strip Fur (White/ Chartreuse) |
| Rib: |
Copper Wire |
| Head: |
5 Minutes Epoxy |
| Body Support: |
Needle |
| Eyes: |
Chartreuse Stick-on |
Tying the Super Bunny
1. Start this fly by placing the needle into the vice and securing
it tightly. Attach your thread behind the pin-head and wrap down the pin
shank. Make sure to leave about 1/8 of an inch at the rear of the fly so
that it can be tied down on top of the hook shank later.
2. Clip about one inch section of the chartreuse zonker strip for
the tail section of the fly and bind it down tightly to the pin shank (a
drop of head cement is a good idea). In the proceeding steps you will be
placing quite a bit of strain on the pin-shank and if the tail section is
not tied down properly it will spin making things hard to work with.
3. After the tail is in place on top of the hook shank form a
dubbing loop and start spinning the rabbit fur. Wrap the rabbit loops
forward up the pin shank. It might take 4-5 separate rabbit loops to cover
the entire pin shank. Take a quick measure with the rabbit body you just
made to make sure it is approximately the same size as the hook shank you
will be tying it down to. Once you are happy with the length simply whip
finish the thread and cement.
4. Take out the upper half of the fur body you just made from the
vice and secure in the hook that you will be using. Attach your thread
once more behind the hook eye and wrap back to the point above the barb.
Select approximately a one inch section of the white zonker strip and this
time slide the tip (rawhide first) over the hook shank. When the tail
section is bought to the top of the hook shank push it forward to the
point above the barb and tie it on to the hook shank securely. Adding a
drop or two of head cement is a good idea to hold things in place
securely. Clip a section of fine copper wire and tie it down to the hook
shank as well, extending off the end of the hook.
5. Bring the thread back to the point above the barb and tie down
the chartreuse tail section of the fur upper body you made earlier. When
tying down the fur body; make sure that the ends of the two tails are the
same length, and are sandwiched on top of one another above the barb. Once
the upper body is tied down securely bend back the green fur body off the
end of the fly so that you can work on the underbody. Advance the thread
to the ½ mark on the hook shank and tie in a 4mm glass rattle to add a
little flare to this bunny fly. Again once the rattle is secured down with
thread a drop or two of head cement will only strengthen things.
6. Bring the thread back to the point above the barb and form a
dubbing loop. Spin the white zonker fur this time creating a nice thick
body up the hook shank. Two or three separate loops might be needed to dub
the whole underbody to the front of the hook shank depending on again how
much fur you spin at once.
7. Once you have the underbody finished just make a quick check to
make sure that the green upper body is approximately the same length as
the white lower body. Before tying the upper body down on top of the lower
body, run your finger on top of the hook shank creating a seam in the
dubbed white fur for the upper body to lie in. Pull the upper body down
tight to the hook shank and tie off with you thread (make sure to clip the
head of the pin off before tying it down, or else it will be impossible to
do later). Once the upper body is bound down, wrap the copper wire
forwarding in even spaces till you reach the front of the fly. As you wrap
the copper wire forward take care not to wrap down to much of the fur body
with each of the successive wrap up the hook shank. Tie off the copper
wire at the front of the fly, and clip the tag end.
8. Whip finish the head of the fly and take it to your epoxy
station. All that is needed to finish the fly is to place one or two drops
of epoxy on the head. Apply your epoxy and let the fly rotate on your
epoxy drier until the epoxy head has hardened. After the first coat of
epoxy has completely hardened add one stick-on eye to each side of the
head. Lastly apply a second thin epoxy coat to the head to the bind down
the eyes and fly finish.
Tight lines and Smooth threads!
Written By: Jason Akl, Feb 2004
Photographs By: Jason Akl |
