Zonker
Fly of the Month
What fly pattern would you choose if you wanted to imitate a minnow that large trout eat? What fly pattern would you choose if you want the fly to bounce off the bottom? What fly pattern would you choose if you did not want the fly to be chewed up by a large trout?
What fly pattern would you choose if you were after a bronze-back smallie you spotted on a delayed harvest stream? Woolly Buggers? Muddler? Or how about a …
Zonker
The Zonker Streamer is a classic streamer fly pattern that has a long history of producing large trout, smallmouth and other gamefish. The Zonker may be tied in many variations, sizes and colors, to catch a wide variety for fish and to catch fish in a variety of scenarios. Initially created to imitate a baitfish or juvenile trout, a zonker streamer also imitates crayfish, leeches, baby suckers, madtoms, sculpins, fry or as a dead drifted large nymph.
Zonker flies are tied with a variety of materials to give them life-like appearances when moving through the water. The Zonker is one of the most versatile fly patterns in the sport of fly fishing and may be tied without or with a beadhead, a conehead or the innovative Fish Skull for more weight and flash.
Big fish like big flies! The Zonker is a pattern that has been fooling fish for many years and ideal for anglers who like to target big aggressive fish. The large mass and movement of the Zonker make it a must-have fly pattern for every fly box.
Martin Joergensen’s Zonkers
Bloody Zonker - A colorful and meaty fly. A "zonked" version of the classical Bloody Butcher, which was originally a feather winged fly. The colors of the original are silver, red and black and the feather wing can easily be transformed to a zonker, resulting in a large streamer, well suited for larger predatory fish such as sea trout.
Fair Fly - Like the Squirrel Zonker, this was inspired by the wing material, which in this case was a nutria skin. Nutria is a type of fur that's like to mink, and you can easily "substitute" the nutria with mink or vice versa. It is an almost perfect sculpin imitation, and is easy to tie. One disadvantage is its size - once wet the fly is quite heavy and can be a challenge to cast on a lighter rod.
Spotted Fair Fly - A large sculpin or goby imitation.
Two-spotted Fair Fly - Another fly pattern in the Fair Fly Zonker family.
Full Metal Jacket Nutria Muddler (FMJNM) - A Zonker, a muddler and a dep diving conehead fly combining two fly pattern types: the muddler and the Zonker. It is a monster to cast, being difficult to get airborne on a rod lighter than a 7 weight. Using an 8 or 9 weight makes casting it somewhat easier. An ideal sculpin fly pattern for fishing at night in a current on the lower Nantahala River. It is similar to the Zuddler and other similar flies from the vises of Joe Emery and John Rode.
Mango Zonker - A bright and colorful zonker tied for winter and coldwater seatrout. It uses the barred rabbit zonker strips.
Martin's Mundane Zonker Worm – A simple pattern with a conehead, zonker strip and a hackle. It looks as much as a worm as any worm imitation, but will also go for a small black fish if the trout prefer that. The essence is that it works.
Squirrel Zonker - A "small zonker" based on a cured squirrel skin with dense and short haired skin. The fly is a simple and easily tied fly pattern consisting of a tinsel body, a zonker wing and a hair hackle. The fly is lightweight, compact and can be tied on smaller hooks and still yield a harmonic fly.
White Zonker - Casting a white streamer is like casting a "Tracer Fly", you can watch the fish chase it down and wolf it. This White Zonker is tied with lead wire to make it heavier.
Many classical streamers, feather wings and hair winged fly patterns can be converted to zonkers by keeping the basic elements and colors and replacing the hook with a long shank hook and the wing with a zonker strip.
Fly Fishing with a Zonker
The Zonker is fished in the same manner as other streamers. Designed for mid-water to deep-water action, an intermediate sinking line or a full sinking line is best. In an open body of water such as a large pool on a stream or a stillwater pond or reservoir the Zonker cast to a maximum distance, allowed to sink into the water column, then striped back as an imitation of a fish progressing through the water possibly in a fleeing action. Interrupted action, jerks, stalls and long duration strips are all possible actions to be applied depending on the species targeted.
In coldwater for trout, the Zonker is best cast across and down at 45 degrees to the current, then allowed to tail out before the return striping is applied at a moderate pace. For dingy, milky water conditions, a Zonker pattern that is a very dark black, brown, green, blue or purple is best. In very clear conditions, the lighter and brighter colors of chartreuse, pink, yellow are best. In either case, generally the bottom portion is white giving the contrast much like any bait fish.
In freshwater for smallmouth bass, the Zonker is best striped with a slow steady movement that crosses in front of the target fish or runs upstream-downstream close by.
Zonker
Fly of the Month 12.17
……recipe and instructions…….
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
What fly pattern would you choose if you wanted to imitate a minnow that large trout eat? What fly pattern would you choose if you want the fly to bounce off the bottom? What fly pattern would you choose if you did not want the fly to be chewed up by a large trout?
What fly pattern would you choose if you were after a bronze-back smallie you spotted on a delayed harvest stream? Woolly Buggers? Muddler? Or how about a …
Zonker
The Zonker Streamer is a classic streamer fly pattern that has a long history of producing large trout, smallmouth and other gamefish. The Zonker may be tied in many variations, sizes and colors, to catch a wide variety for fish and to catch fish in a variety of scenarios. Initially created to imitate a baitfish or juvenile trout, a zonker streamer also imitates crayfish, leeches, baby suckers, madtoms, sculpins, fry or as a dead drifted large nymph.
Zonker flies are tied with a variety of materials to give them life-like appearances when moving through the water. The Zonker is one of the most versatile fly patterns in the sport of fly fishing and may be tied without or with a beadhead, a conehead or the innovative Fish Skull for more weight and flash.
Big fish like big flies! The Zonker is a pattern that has been fooling fish for many years and ideal for anglers who like to target big aggressive fish. The large mass and movement of the Zonker make it a must-have fly pattern for every fly box.
Martin Joergensen’s Zonkers
Bloody Zonker - A colorful and meaty fly. A "zonked" version of the classical Bloody Butcher, which was originally a feather winged fly. The colors of the original are silver, red and black and the feather wing can easily be transformed to a zonker, resulting in a large streamer, well suited for larger predatory fish such as sea trout.
Fair Fly - Like the Squirrel Zonker, this was inspired by the wing material, which in this case was a nutria skin. Nutria is a type of fur that's like to mink, and you can easily "substitute" the nutria with mink or vice versa. It is an almost perfect sculpin imitation, and is easy to tie. One disadvantage is its size - once wet the fly is quite heavy and can be a challenge to cast on a lighter rod.
Spotted Fair Fly - A large sculpin or goby imitation.
Two-spotted Fair Fly - Another fly pattern in the Fair Fly Zonker family.
Full Metal Jacket Nutria Muddler (FMJNM) - A Zonker, a muddler and a dep diving conehead fly combining two fly pattern types: the muddler and the Zonker. It is a monster to cast, being difficult to get airborne on a rod lighter than a 7 weight. Using an 8 or 9 weight makes casting it somewhat easier. An ideal sculpin fly pattern for fishing at night in a current on the lower Nantahala River. It is similar to the Zuddler and other similar flies from the vises of Joe Emery and John Rode.
Mango Zonker - A bright and colorful zonker tied for winter and coldwater seatrout. It uses the barred rabbit zonker strips.
Martin's Mundane Zonker Worm – A simple pattern with a conehead, zonker strip and a hackle. It looks as much as a worm as any worm imitation, but will also go for a small black fish if the trout prefer that. The essence is that it works.
Squirrel Zonker - A "small zonker" based on a cured squirrel skin with dense and short haired skin. The fly is a simple and easily tied fly pattern consisting of a tinsel body, a zonker wing and a hair hackle. The fly is lightweight, compact and can be tied on smaller hooks and still yield a harmonic fly.
White Zonker - Casting a white streamer is like casting a "Tracer Fly", you can watch the fish chase it down and wolf it. This White Zonker is tied with lead wire to make it heavier.
Many classical streamers, feather wings and hair winged fly patterns can be converted to zonkers by keeping the basic elements and colors and replacing the hook with a long shank hook and the wing with a zonker strip.
Fly Fishing with a Zonker
The Zonker is fished in the same manner as other streamers. Designed for mid-water to deep-water action, an intermediate sinking line or a full sinking line is best. In an open body of water such as a large pool on a stream or a stillwater pond or reservoir the Zonker cast to a maximum distance, allowed to sink into the water column, then striped back as an imitation of a fish progressing through the water possibly in a fleeing action. Interrupted action, jerks, stalls and long duration strips are all possible actions to be applied depending on the species targeted.
In coldwater for trout, the Zonker is best cast across and down at 45 degrees to the current, then allowed to tail out before the return striping is applied at a moderate pace. For dingy, milky water conditions, a Zonker pattern that is a very dark black, brown, green, blue or purple is best. In very clear conditions, the lighter and brighter colors of chartreuse, pink, yellow are best. In either case, generally the bottom portion is white giving the contrast much like any bait fish.
In freshwater for smallmouth bass, the Zonker is best striped with a slow steady movement that crosses in front of the target fish or runs upstream-downstream close by.
Zonker
Fly of the Month 12.17
……recipe and instructions…….
- Tom Adams, Alen Baker
Zonker
Recipe :
Hook : Streamer hook, Tiemco 5233, Size 2,4,6,8,10
Thread : Black 8/0
Body : Mylar Tubing
Wing : White Rabbit Zonker Strip
Tag : Red thread
Throat : Red saddle hackle
Directions :
Recipe :
Hook : Streamer hook, Tiemco 5233, Size 2,4,6,8,10
Thread : Black 8/0
Body : Mylar Tubing
Wing : White Rabbit Zonker Strip
Tag : Red thread
Throat : Red saddle hackle
Directions :
- Debarb and mount the hook in the vise. Attach the red thread and advance to the hook bend. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select a length mylar tubing and remove the cotton lining after cutting to length. The length of the tubing is from three or four eyelengths from the eye to slightly past the hook bend. Remove the hook from the vise and slide the tubing onto the hook. Secure with two or three wraps of red thread at the hook bend only. The slight extension of tubing can be frayed with a bodkin in a later step or on completion. Let the red thread bobbin hang.
- Select a zonker strip and tie in with red thread at the hook bend. The rabbit should start three or four eyelengths from the eye and extend well past the hook shank. Do not trim the length until after tying in. Wet the fibers slightly to aid in separating the fur and use a bodkin after the second soft wrap to move all of the fur out of the way of the tying thread. Once in place check the length and tie in securely ending with a whip finish. Cut the red thread and add the black thread at the eye. Let the bobbin hang.
- Select several red saddle hackle barbs and pull away from the stem while holding the tips to ensure alignment of the tips. Tie in the saddle by the base of the barbs after making the length adjustment to touch the hook point. Trim any saddle waste and let the bobbin hang.
- Bring forward the rabbit on top of the hook shank and tie in securely with thread minding the clear space for the thread avoiding trapped fur. Form a small thread head, whip finish, cut the thread and dress with a glossy head cement.