Rabbit Strip Fly Tying Instructions

Rabbit Strip Fly 

Materials You’ll Need to Tie the Rabbit Strip Fly:

1. HOOK – streamer hook 6 – 2/0 X long 
2. THREAD – 3/0 color tan
3. WEIGHTED – optional medium lead wire
4. TAIL– rabbit strip body color, Crystal Flash or Flashabou
5. BODY– rabbit strip. color of your choosing
6. COLLAR – optional color rabbit strip

Rabbit Strip Fly Tying Instructions 

1. Wrap the thread to the rear of the hook.
2. Optional weight, add several wraps of the lead wire on the shaft
3. Tie in a rabbit strip tail at the bend and on top of the hook.
4. Do not cut off rabbit strip. (The tail should be the same length as the hook).
5. Tie in a few strands of the Crystal Flash or Flashabou right where you tied in the tail.
6. Wrap the thread to the eye of the hook.
7. Wrap your rabbit strip toward the eye of the hook.
8. With each wrap, palm the rabbit hair back and make another wrap. You want the rabbit hair to lay back and not get caught between the wraps. 
9. Stop your wraps at least 1/8″ from the eye. 
10. Tie off the rabbit strip and cut it. Hold back the rabbit hair with your fingers and thumb.
11. Make a nice cone shaped head, tie off and coat the thread with the head cement.
12. If you want to spice it up add a different color Rabbit strip collar in front.
13. Stop two wraps from the head and secure.
14. Cut off the rabbit strip. Tie in a different color rabbit strip, make two wraps and finish the same way. 

Thing to Consider While You Tie the Rabbit Strip Fly

Choosing the Right Rabbit Strips

Choosing the right rabbit strips for the Rabbit Strip fly pattern or any wrapped rabbit is not an easy task for any angler (new or seasoned).

There are many types of rabbit strips available. Regular to large strips, crosscuts, and the list goes on and on with each one serving a different purpose. Try to look for a rabbit strip that’s 1/8″ or less depending on your hook size. Make sure to choose a full strip (meaning that it has lots of hair and no gaps on the strip). If you’re having trouble wrapping, try a crosscut section, this will help.

Practice Wrapping the Rabbit Strips

You should practice wrapping the rabbit strip on the hook before you start tying the Rabbit Strip fly. Once you get the hang of wrapping the rabbit strip, tying the Rabbit Strip fly will be easy. It can seem daunting, but the Rabbit Strip Fly is actually quite easy once you get a feel for working with the materials.

How to Fish the Rabbit Strip Fly

Through the years with all the colors and materials available the pattern has developed into a deadly streamer/ attractor pattern for all species of fish. 

The primary way to fish this pattern is on a dead drift and on the swing. You can also fish it the same way you do a streamer – upward, across river cast with a figure eight or strip retrieve varying your retrieval speed

Tie the Rabbit Strip Fly in a couple of different colors. When the egg patterns are not producing fish, tie one of these on and see what happens. I bet you won’t be disappointed. Soon you will have a dedicated fly box just for your Rabbit Strip flies.

Original Article By Brad Berlin

About The Author

Brad Berlin has been tying flies and fishing many of the local streams in the northeast, and especially central Pennsylvania for over 20 years. He guides on area streams and the Susquehanna River. Brad teaches classes in fly ting and casting. He enjoys fishing the tributaries of Lake Ontario in the fall.