Bodkin / Patterns

Rabbit Strip Diver

Nymph · Largemouth Bass · Smallmouth Bass · Pike · Intermediate · 1 version

Reference Recipe

  • Hook Wide-gap bass/stinger hook, 1/0-6
  • Thread White or to match (flat waxed or GSP) 3/0 or GSP

Materials

  • Rabbit zonker strip (tail) Chartreuse, black, or white rabbit zonker strip (1)
  • Flash Pearl or gold mylar tinsel flashabou (few strands)
  • Rubber legs (optional) Barred rubber legs (1 pair)
  • Deer belly hair (collar and head) To match deer hair (several clumps)

How to tie it

  1. Start thread at the bend and bind a rabbit zonker strip as a tail about 1.5-2 shank lengths long, plus a few strands of flash each side.
  2. If wanted, add a splayed pair of rubber legs at the tail base.
  3. Spin a small clump of deer belly hair right in front of the tail as a collar, letting the tips sweep back over the body.
  4. Spin and stack successive clumps of deer hair forward to behind the eye, packing each one tight with your fingers or a tool. Dense packing is what makes the head push water.
  5. Whip finish behind the eye and snip.
  6. Trim the head to a broad, flat-faced cone with the collar left long underneath. The sloped face makes it dive and wobble on the strip.

Tying videos

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