Zonker

Hook: TMC 300 #4-10   

Thread: Black 6/0   

Body: Lead wrap, mylar piping   

Body: Black rabbit strips

Comments: This is a large fish fly like the woolly bugger.  It can also be tied in a variety of different ways.  One of which is to use chenille as the body or peacock herl with some type of tinsel ribbing or flashabou ribbing instead of the mylar piping.  This picture has a painted head with eyes, which are also optional.  One variation of this is to either build up the head with thread or use beads for weight and flash.  I sometimes add white krystal flash to the tail to give it more color as well.  Popular rabbit strip colors include the traditional black, brown, and purple.  The key to this fly is the tail, which should wave to and fro in the water on retrieval.

Techniques: Similar to the woolly bugger, the zonker is usually considered a big fish fly and is strip retrieved through large pools and runs to garner strikes.  It is a good bet to have a variety of colors and make sure that your tail is plenty long enough when tying.

Click on this link to see step by step instructions to crating a zonker pattern Zonker Pattern