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Bunny Leech
Chinchilla Bunny Leech
Tying Instructions
1. Slip a medium conehead onto the hook and secure the hook to the vise. Clip a small piece of leadfree wire, enough for about 5 wraps, and wrap this around the shank behind the conehead.
2. Push the wire wraps firmly against the back of the conehead. This is partially fill the space void and also keep the conehead from lateral movement. Secure the wire with thread wraps and lay a thread foundation to the bend of the hook.
3. Take a section of Zonker (Rabbit) Strip and secure a section that is about 1/2 shank length at the bend of the hook. With the flowing fur, the tail piece will be over a shanks length in total. Any longer, you will have problems with short bites from the trout. Secure the piece with 4-5 overlaying thread wraps.
4. Secure a piece of wire ribbing in front of the tailing section. Keep the wire ribbing on the bottom of the hook shank as you secure this piece with thread wraps up to the wire wraps.
5. Bring the thread back to the bend of the hook and dub the thread with ice dubbing. The material should be well secured to the thread but not tightly roped.
6. Wrap the ice dubbing up to the base of the conehead.
7. Bring the rabbit strip over the top of the hook shank and secure the strip just behind the conehead with 4-5 thread wraps.
8. Next, wrap the ribbing with widely spaced spirols arouind the dubbed body and the rabbit strip. This is the same technique used with Matukas. Apply thread tension in a vertical manner as to not twist the rabbit strip.
9. Use a bodkin to separate the fibers at the base of the hide.
10. Apply the wire ribbing up to the conehead and secure with thread wraps.
11. Attach a piece of crosscut rabbit strip just behind the conehead, tucking the tag end into the space of the cone. Secure with 8-9 thread wraps.
12. Wrap the crosscut strip around the shank twice behind the conehead and secure with thread wraps.
13. Trim off the tag end and secure with further thread wraps. Attach two flashabou sections to each side of the shank behind the conehead. Whip Finish.
| Materials
to Order Material, click the link |
|
|---|---|
| Hook | TMC 300 #6-8 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Nickel Conehead |
| Underbody | Red Ice Dubbing |
| Body/Tail | 1/8 Chinchilla Rabbit Strip |
| Flash | Strands of Pearl Flashabou |
| Collar | 1/8 Chinchilla Rabbit Crosscut Strip |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Bunny Leech
Rabbit Zonker strips make an excellent material to imitate leeches. The material takes a little time to get itself waterlogged but once it is fully saturated, it performs with the convincing undulating pattern of a leech. Black, Brown and Olive are the most common colors used. A few strands of Krystal flash or Flashabou are often incorporated into the pattern, either at the tail or off the head position. There are basically three methods used to tie this pattern.
Method One
Dan Byford
The method I show on the Chinchilla Bunny Leech utilizes one zonker strip for the tail and the body. An underbody of Ice Dubbing is applied to the hook shank and the body portion of the zonker strip is lashed to the shank. This is a method popularized by Dan Byford in 1975. Dan was from Bakersfield, CA and was deeply involved in the fly fishing industry throughout his career. Dan passed away in September of 2011 in Chaing Mai, Thailand. I also use this method on the Purple and Black Bunny Leech.
Method Two
The second method is to secure a zonker strip for the tail and apply rabbit hair within a dubbing loop for the body. This method is shown on the Tightline video below. It can be a preferred method for tying onto smaller hooks.
Method Three
The third method is to secure a 1/8″ crosscut rabbit strip at the base of the tail and wrap the entire strip forward. This method was used by Charlie Brooks on his Assam Dragon pattern in 1970 using seal fur and I use this method on the Olive Bunny Leech. All three methods will use a 1/8″ crosscut strip as a collar at the head.
For our Sierran lakes, I try to keep the overall size down by using size 6-8 streamer hooks and a minimal tail length as the weight of the saturated fur can be substantial. The Bunny Leech is a favorite for Steelhead and Salmon yet in larger sizes of 2-4 utilizing 9-10 wt. rods. Many of those patterns will also use an Egg Head wrap of chenille.
Variations
BH Purple Bunny Leech w/Purple Hackle
| Hook | TMC 300 #2-6 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Nickel Conehead |
| Underbody | Purple Ice Dubbing |
| Body/Tail | 1/8 Purple Rabbit Strip |
| Flash | Strands of Pearl Flashabou |
| Collar | 1/8 Purple Cross-cut Rabbit Strip |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Olive Bunny Leech
| Hook | TMC 300 #4-6 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Nickel Conehead |
| Underbody | Olive Ice Dubbing |
| Body/Tail | 1/8 Olive Rabbit Strip |
| Flash | Strands of Pearl Flashabou |
| Collar | 1/8 Olive Cross-cut Rabbit Strip, crosscut |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |
Black Bunny Leech w/Rabbit Fur Collar
| Hook | TMC 300 #4-8 |
| Thread | Danville Black 6/0 |
| Head | Black Nickel Conehead |
| Underbody | Black Ice Dubbing |
| Body/Tail | 1/8 Black Rabbit Strip |
| Flash | Strands of Pearl Flashabou |
| Collar | 1/8 Black Rabbit Strip, crosscut |
| Ribbing | Small Copper Wire |