04-15-2003, 05:03 PM
[cool]Man, I hate to see a growed man beg. I'm not in the commercial tying business but I'll be happy to offer help to anyone who wants to give it a whack.
Here's a list of things you'll need. (1.) A tanned rabbit skin (2.) Large jig heads with heavy duty hooks (3.) Trebles or single hooks for the "stinger" hooks. (4.) Wire, heavy dacron line or mono to attach the stinger hooks to the jigs. (5.) Contact cement, hotmelt glue or quick epoxy to glue the edges of the bunny strips over the jig and trailer hook rig. (6.) A razor blade or sharp craft knife to cut the strips out of the skin.
Cut the strips from the hide SKIN SIDE UP. If you try to cut through the fur, or use scissors, you will end up with loose bunny hairs all over the place. Put a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet on your work table and it will help hold the loose hairs until you can comb them off or use a Dustbuster to get rid of the stuff.
Assemble your jig and stinger hook rigs before tieing or glueing the strips on the jig. Hook the jig hook up through the skin, in the middle of the strip, just far enough back to allow the strip to fold over the jig just below the head. Then, measure out where the point of the trailer hook will come out and run that hook up through the skin also.
Using contact cement or fast-drying glue, put a little on the inside edges of both sides of the skin. Allow to dry to the "tacky" stage and then press the two parts together, making as clean an edge as possible. You can trim later if you need to. DO NOT TRY TO GLUE THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE JIG AT THE SAME TIME. Do only an inch or two at a time, to allow you to hold the pieces in place until they set. Although a small clamp might help for slower setting glue. Repeat in steps until you have the whole strip of fur folded over the hook rigs and glued into place.
The last step is optional, but good insurance against the fur being pulled off the head by a big fish. Put the hook of the jig head in your fly tying vice and wrap a few good wraps of heavy thread around the junction of the skin and the jig head. Whip finish it and apply a good coat of thread cement.
And, don't get all hung up on how lovely they turn out. Sometimes ugly is beautiful to fish. In my formative years of fly tying and lure making, some of my worst creations turned out to be very popular with the fish. It's kinda like the common situation of having a fly get better and better, the longer you use it and the more chewed up it gets.
The two things going for the bunny jigs are size and action. They represent a big mouthful...and that hair just comes alive in the water. They are designed to be fished virtually without any jigging action...except the motion of the boat rocking on the waves, as you drift across fish-holding structure or bottom contours. And, the takes are not always aggressive. You need to watch your sonar and your rod tip or you will miss some of the votes.
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Here's a list of things you'll need. (1.) A tanned rabbit skin (2.) Large jig heads with heavy duty hooks (3.) Trebles or single hooks for the "stinger" hooks. (4.) Wire, heavy dacron line or mono to attach the stinger hooks to the jigs. (5.) Contact cement, hotmelt glue or quick epoxy to glue the edges of the bunny strips over the jig and trailer hook rig. (6.) A razor blade or sharp craft knife to cut the strips out of the skin.
Cut the strips from the hide SKIN SIDE UP. If you try to cut through the fur, or use scissors, you will end up with loose bunny hairs all over the place. Put a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet on your work table and it will help hold the loose hairs until you can comb them off or use a Dustbuster to get rid of the stuff.
Assemble your jig and stinger hook rigs before tieing or glueing the strips on the jig. Hook the jig hook up through the skin, in the middle of the strip, just far enough back to allow the strip to fold over the jig just below the head. Then, measure out where the point of the trailer hook will come out and run that hook up through the skin also.
Using contact cement or fast-drying glue, put a little on the inside edges of both sides of the skin. Allow to dry to the "tacky" stage and then press the two parts together, making as clean an edge as possible. You can trim later if you need to. DO NOT TRY TO GLUE THE WHOLE LENGTH OF THE JIG AT THE SAME TIME. Do only an inch or two at a time, to allow you to hold the pieces in place until they set. Although a small clamp might help for slower setting glue. Repeat in steps until you have the whole strip of fur folded over the hook rigs and glued into place.
The last step is optional, but good insurance against the fur being pulled off the head by a big fish. Put the hook of the jig head in your fly tying vice and wrap a few good wraps of heavy thread around the junction of the skin and the jig head. Whip finish it and apply a good coat of thread cement.
And, don't get all hung up on how lovely they turn out. Sometimes ugly is beautiful to fish. In my formative years of fly tying and lure making, some of my worst creations turned out to be very popular with the fish. It's kinda like the common situation of having a fly get better and better, the longer you use it and the more chewed up it gets.
The two things going for the bunny jigs are size and action. They represent a big mouthful...and that hair just comes alive in the water. They are designed to be fished virtually without any jigging action...except the motion of the boat rocking on the waves, as you drift across fish-holding structure or bottom contours. And, the takes are not always aggressive. You need to watch your sonar and your rod tip or you will miss some of the votes.
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