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Zonker Donker »

Hook 1/0 4X Streamer or Your choice.
Thread 6/0 Black some may opt for kevlar
Bunny fur Black 3/8 to 1/2″ 2X hook length
Bunny fur Red cross cut 1″
Bunny fur white 1/8″ about 2 1/2″
Super glue and lots of it. Do not put on hide, put on thread.

I have also tied this with pink, Firetiger and solid white with green in smaller sizes hoping to try it out on tiger trout but have not gone yet.

De- barb hook, and tie on thread, starting where You want the gill flare to stop. Tie heavy enough to cover the hook well with thread down to the barb. Cut wide black bunny fur 3/8 - 1/2″ double the length of the hook and taper the front. Now measuring the top zonker strip You want to tie the back in so the taper comes about 1/8″ short of the eye, this will help You stretch it better over the body so it glues down right. I separate My zonker fur with a dubbing needle and then wet the fur well so it parts evenly then tie down with 6-8 tight wraps. Bring Your thread now to the other side of the strip and tie 4-5 wraps before gluing down Your wraps in the back section. Now tie in the 1/8″ white straight cut bunny strip and then glue the threads all the way to 1/8″ of the thread start near the eye. Pull the fur back as You wrap and tie off really well when 1/4″ to the front and snip off then glue again. Now take Your Red crosscut fur strip. You will only need 2 wraps max here. I like to shave off about 1/8″ of fur to help with a more secure tie in. Glue the thread forwards and tie in the red and palmer that forward 2 wraps or to Your liking. Tie it off well and glue again, remember, these are pike flies so I like to really build up after every addition and glue. I have gotten 38 pike and 3 walleye on the same fly and that says a lot for gluing as I don’t use kevlar but sewing thread. Now You need to part the fur from front to back, a small brush, comb or dubbing needle will do. once parted and You are happy, pull the fur down all the way on both sides and apply glue down the length to the body not the zonker strip. Gluing to the zonker hide directly can cause it to burn and harden up. You still need stretch in Your zonker strip. So now You have the fur pulled down on the body and the glue down on the spine of the fly, stretch the zonker strip over and tie in the taper near the eye. Some people like a good 1/4″ to 3/8″ of bare shank on pike flies, if thats the case move the whole pattern back that amount. Tie a good solid head on near the eye and glue well. When the glue dries You can add fleximent or clear coat whatever You desire, I have even added eyes to this fly but when I lose one it swims poorly. You can also weight it, but I find it nice and light this way and with no weight I can work it nice and slow with huge results. This is a fast and very easy beginner fly to tie, also it takes a huge beating.
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