Late to the zonker party; 1/16th minnows (and a fun test run!)

[bombora]

Tied these with plans to drive up to the lure and fly only trophy dam about two CD's drive from home. It's one of those weird lakes where fish grow big, quickly. Free access. Plenty of big rainbows and brown (between four and eight pounds) taken recently. They've been feeding on gudgeons and other small fish about two-three inches long on the dam edges, so wanted a bit longer length in the jigs and went for some zonker strips.
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Generic minnow colour scheme:
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Firetiger, I like this one!:
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Another naural colours one for clear water:
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Found some nail polish which matched the claret and pale pink rabbit (gold makes a nice accent for this colour-combo I think):
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Was excavating a pile of stuff on my garbage dump of a tying desk and found some barred feathers so did one more "look at me" jig:
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Haven't done many zonker tails as most salty jigs just need a simple bucktail tail. Zonker moves rather well doesn't it.
Didn't get to the dam, but am planning a trip next week.

 

[jiggerjohn]

Bombora -Those are about the nicest,most innovative ZONKER ties I've seen in sometime ! I especially like their chubby little profiles ! Take it from me, from 1000s of aerial battles, trout LOVE zonkers!!

 

[Squeakyboatcaptain]

Those are truly outstanding ties there!! Those trout are in trouble!! I haven't used any zonkers yet.... But now it looks like they are on my "gotta have" list!! Well done!

 

[Jig Man]

Man, those are the beezzzz kneezz... I like um all!!!

 

[Ron Don]

Those are some kind of Brutiful!!!

 

[toadfrog]

Way Cool now that is some neat work . Really like the color concept . Good photography too .

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Holy Crap they are nice.I need a 2 oz. one of evey color,lol.

 

[JUNGLEJIM1]

Really,really nice ties. I especially like the barred ties, are you doing the barring yourself?

 

[Fatman]

Very nice ties!!!!!! Thanks for sharing, I haven't played with the bunny stuff yet but looks like I'm gonna have to break down and try em!!!

 

[Lost Pole]

Good oogley moogley!
Picture frame jigs. Fav is the fire tiger.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Wow, a rave from JJ2 !

I didn't know nail polish came in so many colors !

Looking forward to some of your dam pics.

 

[bombora]

Thanks JCers. Can't wait to try em, and got some extra confidence from your trout experiences.
Used a Sharpie to do the bars on the rabbit Firetiger: get so nervous as it's the last thing to do and so easy to stuff up. There's a few failures lurking which are now reservred for throwing at nasty snag piles.
Hawn I think there must be generic dyes used by both nail polish manufacturers and fly/jig hair suppliers, it's uncanny how often you can get an exact match between polish and hair!!!
I get more excited than the 12 year old girls I'm battling shoulder to shoulder with at the discount shop table of cheap polish when I get a rare colour. Squeal louder than them too!
Just took a jig down to the ocean rock pool this morning and test swam it again; that zonker MOVES! Had a school of three-year-olds in the shallow end about to strike before I pulled it away (watching mums not happy!).

 

[StumpHunter]

Awesome work!!

 

[bombora]

Joined my best mate checking his beaten up old yacht on a public mooring in the Harbour this morning. To get to it we squeezed into his tender _ a tiny, seven foot long round hulled dinghy that rocks alarmingly if you even clench a buttock.
Took an ultralight and thought I'd test swim a 1/16th zonker minnow. Cast around the drop off from the little bay's sandflat as Johnno rowed the glorified bath tub to his little yacht. Among a bunch of guys casting blades (the hippest lures here at the mo) and plastics from "real" fishing skiffs, the hair and lead fooled a little Australian Salmon (not from salmon/trout family but similar though thicker shouldered shape) of about three pounds. Johnno started laughing. He said "look overboard". We had a wake! The fish was towing us through the glassy water.
Johnno caught an action shot on his phone just after the salmon entered the water from one of its jumps. They fight very hard.
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Really like the pic. You can see how far the fish jumped _ the boil where he emerged is a good yard to the right of the big re-entry splash! Hook came out as we tried to take a pic in the water beside the dinghy and not tip over.
While Johnno checked his old yacht I had a few casts from the deck and three little eight inch long bluefish (we get em here but a big Sydney bluefish is four pounds, the average one half to a pound. Called Tailor here, from a tailor's sheers; yes their teeth are just as mean) jumped on as well as a bunch of these monsters on the row back!
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Baby snapper.
The zonker minnow after this morning; held up Ok from bluefish and little snapper maulings.
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Done in local baby sand whiting colours. Didn't get the flathead I wanted for Good Friday fish dinner but was a fun and funny hour.

 

[SaltyBuckster]

Beautifull pics.Starting to love that place from what you have shown so far.Great job on the jig.The "Snappers" here are very fun to catch.But,the big ones can get 30 pounds and when you get into them I hope that you have worked out a little bit.lol.

 

[Fatman]

Great pics and fishing report!!!!!! Us big kids get the grins when catching fish too LOL

 

[bombora]

I bet Salty! Seen some pics of evil looking big snapper from your part of the planet. Fatman I can't understand guys who go fishing with looks of grim determination. I gotta concentrate too when the bite's shut down but it's all fun!!!! Still laughing about the bathtub wake.

 

[LedHed]

Exquisite tyes Bombora – excellent report.

 

[AtticaFish]

The zonker minnow after this morning; held up Ok from bluefish and little snapper maulings.

I would prefer to use fur over feather for that reason more than any other...... it holds up so much better in my experience if the fish have teeth or not. The seductive way rabbit fur moves in the water seals the deal for me.

That rod/reel combo looks pretty light for saltwater!!!! Cool picts.

 

[StumpHunter]

Enjoyed the report and pics!!