Zonker streamers with Dumbell eyes

[T_Bone 0]

How does one get these right? I tie in the eyes, and then start with the tail. Glue the shank and wrap forward stroking back hair. Do I X wrap the DB eyes and then get another wrap or two around the shank before the eye? It looks alriht when I do it this way but I was wondering how others approach this type of fly. I will try and get some pics up soon.

 

And if your zonker comes up short it seems, like there is no way to restart another and make it look right. Any advice?

 

Thanks,

T~

[Piker20 0]

you just want to be measuring your zonker strip against the hook shank so you know where to tie it in to achieve the tail length you want. Or, tie it in with the tail the length you want, then trim off the other end just where you want it to finish.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

I tie tons of flies with zonker strips and dumbbell eyes, but I'm not 100% clear on what your question is here. It sounds like you're talking about a pattern that uses a rabbit (zonker) strip palmered up the hook shank for the body. If that's the case, for best results I would recommend using a "cross-cut" rabbit strip as these are much better for palmering. When I use dumbbell eyes on such a pattern (which is almost always), I mount the eyes about 1/8" behind the eye. Once I've got the cross-cut strip tied in at the bend, I run the thread up to a point about halfway between the dumbbell eyes and the hook eye. I then palmer my rabbit forward, stroking the hairs back as I go, and when I get to the eyes I do a single x-wrap over the dumbbell with the strip and tie it off just ahead of the eyes.

 

If, however, you're talking about an actual Zonker (capital Z), as in the pattern wtih a mylar braid body and a tail/wing of rabbit strip laid along the top of the hook shank only, I would not use dumbbell eyes with that pattern. If weight is desired at the eye of the fly, I'd use a brass or tungsten conehead.

 

Hope this helps.

[tidewaterfly 0]

Bryon has described very accurately what I do also. Except I will vary the head on rabbit strip flies sometimes, and like to finish them with Estaz or Crystal chenille. I also like to tie standard type Zonkers with cone heads.

 

I've made Zonker type flies with barbells, but they're a bit more involved than a standard Zonker Streamer. Mine have epoxied bodies with rattles inside. I don't use lead tape, since the barbell's provide the necessary weight, and results in an inverted hook. Zonkers are excellent flies, but tend to snag on the bottom, that's why I added barbells to begin with. I make the bodies with mylar tubing inserted inside of EZ Body, and insert a plastic worm rattle. I've used glass rattles too, but have come to prefer the plastic rattles. The entire body is epoxy coated. The mylar tubing provides a lot of flash, the EZ Body provides a uniform shape, and holds the epoxy very well. Some mylar tubing I've used has been soft, so did not hold it's shape well, this is why I use the EZ Body too. This is a fly that needs to be made in 2 parts, the bodies first, then tie the rabbit strips.

 

Sometimes, strands from the mylar tubing are used as a tail particularly when using Pearl tubing, sometimes I'll add Holographic Flashabou instead. I like the holographic Flashabou because of the variety of flash colors it provides, and because it's slightly stiffer than regular Flashabou, which tends to curl up.

 

The Zonker strip is added after the epoxy has set, tied in at the front & rear, and a small amount of Super Glue is used to secure it to the body. Wide rabbit strips are needed, because the hook is thru the strip.

 

I tend to make these large, size 2 minimum, on long shank hooks, with straight eyes or straight shank worm hooks, and have also made them on jig hooks.

[T_Bone 0]

I tie tons of flies with zonker strips and dumbbell eyes, but I'm not 100% clear on what your question is here. It sounds like you're talking about a pattern that uses a rabbit (zonker) strip palmered up the hook shank for the body. If that's the case, for best results I would recommend using a "cross-cut" rabbit strip as these are much better for palmering. When I use dumbbell eyes on such a pattern (which is almost always), I mount the eyes about 1/8" behind the eye. Once I've got the cross-cut strip tied in at the bend, I run the thread up to a point about halfway between the dumbbell eyes and the hook eye. I then palmer my rabbit forward, stroking the hairs back as I go, and when I get to the eyes I do a single x-wrap over the dumbbell with the strip and tie it off just ahead of the eyes.

 

If, however, you're talking about an actual Zonker (capital Z), as in the pattern wtih a mylar braid body and a tail/wing of rabbit strip laid along the top of the hook shank only, I would not use dumbbell eyes with that pattern. If weight is desired at the eye of the fly, I'd use a brass or tungsten conehead.

 

Hope this helps.

You got me. this is precisely what I was talking about. Palmering the zonker strip around the shank. I did not have any cross cut strips though so I used standard zonkers in purple, and olive, then some pine squirrel zonker strips, which turned out looking more like a mouse. LOL.

 

They looked all right but I found that it I left the eyes a little further back and ran two more wraps ahead of the eye the palmered hair helped smooth out the gap in fur that occurs while wrapping the DB eyes.

 

Thanks!