THE
RABBIT
FUR FLY

PERHAPS OUR most killing all-round pattern, we find this fly ideal for fishing shallow lake margins. Basically a tuft of rabbit fur lashed to a hook, it sinks slowly and rises easily in the water when drawn gently.

This semi-buoyancy, the 'breathing' action of the fur in the water and its good, 'natural' colour make it an ideal choice for fishing to trout prowling for frogs, chasing tadpoles or fossicking for mudeyes.

In streams it works well at grasshopper time and will fool trout looking for drowned caterpillars or moths. In the evenings it takes sea trout that have been feeding on shrimps, crabs and little fish.

Whether the trout identify the Rabbit Fur Fly as any of the above creatures is a moot point. What is important is that it takes trout under a variety of conditions and seems to cover a wide range of food forms.

If you make the fly properly the fur will be quite secure. However, it should be treated with some care when tying on to the tippet, testing the knot or removing it from a trout's jaw. After all, you wouldn't pull an ordinary wet fly by its wings when doing these jobs, would you? If you remember that this fly is little more than an oversized fur wing, that there is no body to it, but plenty of bare hook, then you can give the trout the chance to try to pull it to death, which is a much better idea.

When you first make a Rabbit Fur Fly you may be at a loss as to how to fish it. Cast out dry, it floats and can be fished dead drift for a time or made to scutter about on the surface. Gradually it will become wet and float half-submerged. We usually squeeze the fly carefully under water to get rid of air bubbles trapped in the under-fur, and we remember that too much false-casting will dry the fly and cause it to float.

As you can see, this is a very governable fly which can be manipulated in a number of ways; as a dry surface-scuttler; or as a sunk conventional fly fished slowly; fished on a greased leader it will bulge the surface, or it can be cast out to sit semi-submerged and be tugged under as a feeding trout approaches. That is a killing technique, believe me!

Finally, you can cast the wet fly out and let it lie on the bottom. Over the years we've watched many trout pick up the inert fly and caught them - so its up to you to decide how you will fish the fly.

DRESSING
Hook: No.8 round bend.
Body: Rabbit fur (grey, grey-brown, brown).
Head: Black ostrich herl.
Silk: Black or yellow Naples.

When making the Rabbit Fur Fly always use a good, thick, winter pelt. The best fur, with a good, long staple, is that from the lower back and haunches, and an ordinary, dried, untanned skin is easiest to use.

Turn the skin side towards you and with a scalpel, razor blade, craft knife or very sharp penknife cut the skin across, from one side to the other. Use the rear half.

Still with the skin side towards you, catch one end of the cut edge tightly in your vice. Hold the other end up in the air and, following the cut edge, cut from the skin a long strip 4 mm wide. To keep an accurate line use a gentle, but firm, sawing motion.

Cutting this way doesn't damage the fur and should result in a long, thin strip of skin fringed with fur along one edge. Now, cut the strip into 15 mm segments. Each is enough for a fly.

Fold the skin piece of a segment in half, end to end, skin side inwards, then fold each end inwards to the centre fold. In this way the best side of the fur remains on the outside. Squeeze the folded skin piece hard to make it keep its shape.

The fur is now ready to be tied in like a feather-fibre wing and its tag of folded skin trimmed off.

Using a No.8 round bend hook, whip it with Naples silk down the shank for 8 mm, half hitch, and then wind back halfway towards the eye and half hitch again. Now, hold the prepared segment on top of the hook with the folded piece of skin more or less centred over the eye and tie down the fur with a few turns of silk and a half-hitch.

The next step is to clip off and discard the skin tag, trim the fur roots neatly, then soak them with clear nail varnish. When the varnish is tacky tie down the fur roots and return the silk to where the fur was first tied in. Here tie in two ostrich herls, wind them for three or four turns to form a little ruff, clip off the surplus and finish the head in the usual way.

We also tie this fly using either black or dark brown fur from an old fur coat. In the case of these darker flies we substitute a bright little head of orange or yellow tying silk for the ostrich herl. Doubtless you will want to experiment with other colours and types of fur - so long as it is soft and so has movement in the water.

The skin of a tanned fur is somewhat thicker than that of a dried skin. This is no great problem; the method of cutting and folding the segments and tying the fly remains the same.

SUMMARY
* Wax silk.
* Whip hook back from eye for 8 mm; half-hitch.
* Whip hook back towards eye for 4 mm; half-hitch.
* Prepare segment of rabbit skin and fold as described.
* Tie fur segment on as a wing, enveloping the hook.
* Clip off tag of skin.
* Tie in two pieces black ostrich herl; form head.
* Clip off surplus herl, finish off and varnish in usual way.

Note: There are other Rabbit flies mentioned in the fly-tying literature from New Zealand and the United States. However, these are Matuka-style patterns, where the pelt strips are cut down, from head to tail of the pelt and not across the lie of the fur from side to side as is the case with our Rabbit Fur Fly.

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