Matt's Corner: How I tie The Rabbit Muddler


Materials:
Hook - Daiichi 1750, #4.
Thread - Danville’s 210 Denier Waxed Flymaster Plus, White.
Body/Tail - Lagartun French Mini-Flatbraid, Gold.
Rib - Gold Wire, Medium.
Wing - Rabbit strip, White.
Head - Cow Elk hair, natural.

This is my version of the Rabbit muddler. Fast and easy. Made for fishing, not hanging in a shadow box.

Pics now, better text when I get around to it. I've been promising this for too long.

For me, the key is to use about 3 loose wraps around the hair (hollow and stiff) and manually position the hair 360 degrees around the hook shank before tightening down to spin and flair the hair. With one tie down point, there will be no head unless you finess the thread forward and wrap through the butts a little at a time, spreading them out forward on the shank toward the eye, making sure to leave plenty of butts behind for a full head. This was impossible to capture with still photos. Sorry. When I trim the hair I use scissors and point them parallel to the hook shank, with the tips facing backwards. Trim the head at whatever angle you like. Don't worry about cutting a few of the collar hairs. The result is a fairly loose head using minimal materials that still has a lot of bulk to really push water without being excessively buoyant.

Step-By-Step:
Follow the pics…

 
Matt Klara is a great all-round fly fisher, from chasing Montana browns to Bahamas bonefish, an innovative tyer who casts with his mouth open, he bought himself a camo hat last year and now mistakenly believes he's invisible. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

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