
What is a zonker fly?
A zonker is a fly made from a strip of fur. The strips are known as zonker strips and they have the hide attached. Once waterlogged, this softens and create a fly with bulk that pulsates when retrieved. It’s great for larger flies, such as streamers and pike fly patterns.
What are zonker strips?
Zonker strips are usually made from rabbit fur cut longitudinally so the fur lays flat. However, you can also get cross-cut zonker strips which are cut in the opposite direction and which are better suited to wrapping around the body of the fly.
Is rabbit the only material used?
No, zonker strips are typically rabbit, but they can also be made from squirrel (especially pine squirrel) and also mink, but these are generally called mink strips.
Pine squirrel strips are smaller and better suited to smaller fly patterns. Mink strips are much more mobile than rabbit, and when tied they result in flies generally known as minkies. Minkies and zonkers are much the same – only the material differs.
How do you fish a zonker?
Zonkers are very versatile and can be fished in many different ways. They’re usually weighted with a bead or conehead and sometimes use a leaded underbody to get them down into the deeper water. This helps add extra movement to the fly and means they can be fished in deeper water from a floating line.
They also work well unweighted on a floater or an intermediate. Trout and pike will often smash them off the top when they’re first cast out and if you fish them on an intermediate or sinking line and let the line pull the buoyant fly beneath the surface fish will often take them on the drop.
Zonker Variants
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Zonker
What is a zonker fly? A zonker is a fly made from a strip of fur. The strips are known as zonker strips and they have the hide attached. Once waterlogged, this softens and create a fly with bulk that pulsates when retrieved. It’s great for larger flies, such as streamers and…