STEP BY STEP: TYING “BRYANT’S BUNNY SLIPPER”
“Capt. Connor Bryant, of Tidal Waters Guide Service had been cooking up a skinny water fly for our lowcountry redfish, and landed on a badass little bug built primarily from rabbit zonker and a touch of marabou. He had cracked the code with a fly that would maintain a slow sink rate even presented in shallow water, and also swim/breathe nicely in current.
After he showed me his original straight-shank pattern I was immediately reminded of a jig-hook based fly that I’ve had a ton of success with tying for largemouth bass over the years. A sort of zonker-bugger mashup. I used to call it the ‘Bunny Slipper.’
It was tied practically the same as Bryant’s new redfish bug, with the same bunny tail - only the bass slipper offered webby schlappen feathers over a chenille base- unlike his redfish pattern - which wore a whole rabbit fur strip palmered up to the bead chain eyes. The bass slipper was also spun on a jig hook for improved hook sets, and reduced snags on the bottom.
Together, we developed this cleaned up and simple, yet supercharged jig-hook version of both patterns combined. Here’s the end result! ‘Bryant’s Bunny Slipper.’ A skinny water Redfish delight. “
YOU WILL NEED:
HOOK: Umpqua JIG-60 (Size 2)
THREAD: Semperfli 100D Nano Silk (Black)
EYES: Medium Beadchain (Gold)
TAIL: Rabbit Zonkers - Magnum Cut (Black)
FLASH: Krystal Flash (Rootbeer)
COLLAR: Strung Marabou (Purple)
BODY: Holographic Cactus Chenille (Black)
HEAD: Black Barred Rabbit Strips (Bright Purple) & Magnum Cut Zonker (Black)
GUARD: Mason Hard Mono (30lb)
HEAD CEMENT: Loon UV Clear Fly Finish (Flow) or Equivalent
Set up Umpqua's JIG-60 Hook in a Size 2 securely in your vise jaws. Build a light thread base and apply a pair of medium beadchain eyes on top of the hook shank - leave space for a weed guard later. Run your thread back down the shank and stop once bobbin is even with hook point when freely hanging. Rotate vise to hook point up, and tie in a magnum cut rabbit zonker, in black. *Puncture hook through the hide side of rabbit strip, and capture the end of strip securely along the belly of the hook.* This minimizes fouling and adds durability. [You will have to remove hook from jaws to set the rabbit strip into position for tying in, and re-secure hook in jaws when ready to wrap down the tip of rabbit strip]
After rabbit strip is secured, rotate vise to hook point down orientation and split two strands of root beer krystal flash around thread. Run your (now 4 strands) directly on top of rabbit strip, tie in and trim the flash to length of rabbit. Next loosely tie down the end of a purple marabou feather. Enough to cover about half the length of the rabbit strip tail. To make a decent collar, try your best to surround the entire hook with the feather by using your thumbnail before securing the marabou with tight wraps. Your bobbin should be aligned with hook point when hanging freely. Rotate vise to hookpoint up position.
Tie in a small section of chenille and advance your thread back toward the beadchain eyes so it is out of the way. Rotate your vise to hookpoint down, and make 2 to 3 wraps forward with chenille. Tie in cleanly and trim off tag end. Leave room between chenille and beadchain.
With a 2.5 inch length of black barred purple rabbit srips, use sharp scissors to cut the fur from the hide and set aside in a bulldog clamp, clip, or secure tweezers. (I like to use Loon's D-Loop Tweezer to secure my fur and set aside safely.) With vise at hookpoint up orientaion, create a dubbing loop just ahead of your chenille, and advance bobbin back forward to beadchain until out of the way. Carefully insert your rabbit fur into loop from clamp or tweezers. Keep the thread parallel with the trimmed fur ends. It's time to spin your rabbit.
Using a dubbing spinner, spin your fur and brush/pick out until satisfied with full bodied fur, ready to palmer.
Palmer the purple rabbit fur forward, preening back the fur as you go. You will hide the chenille underneath, as it serves two functions. It not only offers subtle flash- but also creates bulk underneath your palmered rabbit collar. Wrap forward tightly 4 or 5 turns, tie off loop, trim excess and be sure to leave enough room for one final rabbit fur dubbing loop.
After creating your next dubbing loop right behind the purple fur, advance your thread bobbin ahead of beadchain eyes and out of the way. Repeat the dubbing loop process with black rabbit fur. *Notice the black rabbit fur was set with very little excess on the right side of thread. This ensures the fur fibers will be longer in length than the purple when palmered - Creating a wider minnow-head style taper.*
Spin, brush, and palmer your rabbit fur forward. Make tight wraps, preening back the fur every wrap until you meet the beadchain eyes. Then bring your thread back to capture.
Tie off cleanly, and trim off excess loop. Advance your thread ahead of beadchain.
Finally, take a 1.5 inch piece of Mason 30lb hard monofilament, and flatten the very end with pliers. While flattening, bend the flattened section to a 90 degree angle so that you are left with a tiny flat 'L-shaped' tab at the mono's end. Use the L-shaped tab to help catch the mono post with thread wraps right ahead of beadchain. Keep mono post in line with hook point and secure with tight wraps in front and behind post. Once secured in place, trim to length. Whip finish, cut away your bobbin, and cover exposed thread wraps with head cement, and cure.
Finished "Bryant's Bunny Slipper."