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[cool]Had lovely weather down here over the weekend, but a sore ankle kept me out of my tube and fins.
I did get to spend some time playing with some of the new colors of bunny fur I got. Here's a pic of some of the colors I use most in jigs.
If anyone would like a diagram of cutting the bunny fur strips from the pelt, or actually making the jigs, I just put together some stuff on that. PM or email me and I will be glad to shoot it over.
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Those look great! Did you get the chartreuse from a whole skin or as Zonker strips? That's a great color. I like the look of all of 'em!
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[cool]Hey, Don, I got about $40 worth of fur from that place you suggested at [url "http://www.flyfishusa.com/"][#0000ff]http://www.flyfishusa.com/[/#0000ff][/url] . I got three whole skins...black, hot yellow and bright white. Great skins and good size. The fibers on the fur are good and long...and should come alive in the water.
I also got several packages ($2 ea.) of the "zonker strips" in different colors. These come four precut strips to a package...cut about 1/8 inch wide and the full length of the pelt. They are perfect for the tails on small to midsize flies and jigs, and for wrapping bodies.
The third type I tried was some "magnum strips". These are twice the width of the zonker strips and should be ideal for bass jigs and twin tails on mack sized creations. The two tone chartreuse jig has a green tail with a magnum strip. I plan to incorporate some of these into some buzzbaits.
In my diagram, I illustrate that you cut zonker strips about 1/8"...either vertically (for most applications), or horizontally across the grain of the fur for a flatter wrapping job on bodies.
If anyone is planning to make "Bunny Honey Jigs" for macks...with the traditional tubes of bunny fur...or long wide strips...they will just about have to buy the whole (or half) pelt and cut what they want from the skin. I haven't measured it out, but I am guessing that I could probably make at least twenty large mack jigs from one good skin. Divide that into the $7 for a prime skin and you find that each jig costs you about 35 cents in fur. I suspect if you were to find someplace that sold those jigs they would be getting anywhere between $5 to $10 apiece for them. Of course there is the cost of the hook and the lead...and some fancy paint. But the most you would have in materials would be under $1 per jig. Usually a lot less, since lead is 40 cents a pound and average grade hooks might run a dime.
Hey, Don, when are you going to introduce your new stuff to the fishies at the Gorge?
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Hey TD- I'm hoping to get up to the Gorge next weekend. I talked to a buddy who was up there yesterday and at 11:00 AM he said it was 18 degrees, foggy and wet, with 6" of snow on the ground! I was hoping for at least 45 degrees or so but, hey, if I can get into a big fish or two, who cares! I'm getting ready to try making some sparkle/glitter heads tonight using your instructions. I'll let you know how they turn out.
As for the number of large (6"+) bunny jigs you can get from a pelt, I think you might be a little optimistic. The problem is that the fur runs nice and straight back from the neck only in the middle portion of the pelt. When you get off to one side, then the hair starts to angle to the side, and you end up with more of a crosscut strip. So I'm not able to get nearly that many out of one hide, but I've only used a couple of the pelts. Did you get your chartreuse magnum Zonker strips from the same place as the pelts? I've been wondering what their version of chartreuse might be like.
I can hardly wait to go give those big macks a try again!
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[cool][cool]Hey, Don, here are two pics...one of the three colors of whole pelts I got and the other of the strips. The whole pelt color was listed as Fl. Yellow Chartreuse. It is exactly the color I wanted.
In the pic on the strips, there is a zonker strip in the Fl yellow chartreuse, and a magnum strip in what they call simply "chartreuse". It is more of a green color, and is also a good fish catching color. One of my most effective combos over the years has been a hot yellow and green combo, tied on a hot orange head.
Good luck on the Gorge. I know how cold it gets there. I used to be one of the idiots fishing the big browns in the dark, during January and February. Look up "nasty" in the dictionary and it will say "See Flaming Gorge". But, ya know, it suddenly turns tropical when you hook up to a biggun.
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