Where do you buy Zonkers?

[AtticaFish]

Have been using zonkers more and more but the price i am paying for them is killing me... What sites or stores do you get them from that have decent pricing? I have been waiting to see if the Angler is gonna stock them......

BTW - I use Netcrafters and they carry Harline brand for their black barred colors. I use the orange/black and really like it, but their natural/black does not look any different than thier regular gray (not barred) and the barred is nearly 3X the $$$.

I have gotten a suggestion to look on ebay and have seen some good prices, but would rather use a regular store if i could. I have some full pelts i have cut into strips myself, but only color choices are gray and white...... Thanks.

 

[CK3]

I too am waiting to see if Crazy will handle them. Right now I get mine from either Barlows or Janns. I haven't used the barred ones yet....
too rich for my blood. Why do you use orange/black???????????????
Let's see orange....black.......A ha perhaps for Smallies I'll bet!!!I've also used olive and leech red with some success.

 

[Hawnjigs]

If you've got a state or Fed tax license, you can apply for a Hareline Dubbin commercial tier or wholesale account. Order minimum $50.
http://www.hareline.com/

 

[OKSTATEjiggy]

I usually don't buy zonkers. Instead, I buy patches of wabbit skin/fur and cut strips myself with a razor blade. I know that doesn't help the thread much.... haha

 

[Uncle Grump]

CK3 - Attica

Flatfish has zonkers now - got some from him about 10-12 days ago.

UG

 

[Jiggin Joe]

ok off topic a little but could someone explain how they tie in there zonker strips? I dont tie them but curious.

JJ

 

[Uncle Grump]

Joe

From the school of the self taught ...

Depending on what else you are adding to the jig, lay down a thread base - on a recent tie I did the hook shank to the bend, but sometimes a 1/4 - 3/8 " is sufficent. I then coat the thread w/ head cement - allow to dry / harden.

Cut the strip to the desired length, then point the "tail" to the hook bend. The "tail" is the end where the hair extends past the hide, while the head end has no extenstion - this of course assumes you are using "plain" zonkers and not the cross cut variety. Also, clip the hair off the head end-flush w/ the strip - length detirmined by how wide your wraps will be.

Start your wrap, add other materials as desired.

There you be.

UG

PS Give me a shout the next time you head to Rochester.

 

[jiggerjohn]

I usually get the bargain rabbit pelt packages from Cabelas -partial pelts in a wide variety of colors,thin hides for best action, and they give ya about 10 of them for $3.99 !! I just cut strips of whatever length/width I need and don't worry about losing a bit of rabbit fur while cutting (less fur often yields better jig action!).

 

[Jiggin Joe]

Thanks Grump and I go again May 10th I should have a 4 hour break between appointments to

JJ

 

[AtticaFish]

Thanks for the info guy... will definetly be getting in contact with CA to see what all he has. Yeha!!! Wholesale sounds good for a couple fav. colors i use......

Jiggin Joe - They are not all that hard to deal with - worst problem is with having them spin around the shank after tied in and pulling tight on your thread. To help with this, you can either tie right onto the collar or do what Grump said and start with a good base. I have been making most of mine with a little bigger base using a layer of poly yarn wrapped on the shank before tying anything else. Just have to make sure the yarn is good and tight at the start and end of the base to keep THAT from spinning. You can also palmer them up the shank too and it gives a very full body in the water.

 

[Jubs]

I started buying half hides off of eBay. There is only one seller that I know of on there that sells half hides. He sells crosscut and straight cut (for the guys that are new to zonkers you want straight cut unless you want to Palmer the hide like chenille on large jigs/flies). eBay seller click here.

The only down side is I had to get on the seller to actually get him to ship in a timely manner but once he shipped it was here the next day due to him only being a few hours away from where I live. I believe Hays is the one that told me about him on CDC and the rabbit swap.

Here is the difference top brown rabbit is the $4.99 half hide that has 13 strips plus about a 1/4 strip from a miss cut coming in at 14" per strip (15.17 linear feet) vs. Hareline package with 4 9" strips (3 linear feet) which I pay $2.79 plus tax locally for.

 

[AtticaFish]

Jubs - Never tried the cross cut, but for the heck of it i made some jigs palmering a regular straight cut zonker for the body. It looks like you stuck your jig in a :idea: light socket after you tie it but once they get wet, the hair all lays down pretty well. Have caught some bass on them... the body really breathes in the water when you stop retrieving it or bump something.

Will have to get me some cross-cut to play with as well.

 

[Jubs]

The crosscut lays down nicely. I haven't had a chance to use it on a shank but I did the old finger wrap to see how the hair responded and it wraps very nicely. I need to order some crosscut half hides from him for some larger jigs for bass, steelhead, and salmon.

 

[papaperch]

The cross cut I like for the smaller jigs. I just wrap a cut piece around the hook on a thread base. Then tie in with the skin facing itself. The hide is hidden beneath the thread and really makes a nice neat jig. Also try the mini-strips 1/16 th wide for real small jigs.

The more I work with wabbit the better I like it. Seems like you get a lot of less waste than say marabou.

While everyone normally like to stay with the known and familiar , I believe fly and jig tying people should always be open to new or different materials and styles. I think the vast majority of Jigcraft tyers are just that. Limiting yourself to just one style and one type of material just serves to limit ones level of learning.

 

[crazy angler]

Give Yall a heads Up I've got more colors coming with Still waters also the dos strips!

 

[AtticaFish]

OK, i gotta bite on this one, what are dos strips???

Also do you have plans to get pics of the different colors you have on your new shop site? U got some colors i have not seen in rabbit.... Don't worry about it if not, i may just have to get some of the few un-knowns just so i know.

Give Yall a heads Up I've got more colors coming with Still waters also the dos strips!

 

[CK3]

Yeah, I'm wondering what dos strips are also! It must mean two something if my Spanish is still remembered. My problem is also that
I order everything to see what it looks like. If something ever happened
to Angler's store he could run out of my basement for a while:s

 

[Lost Pole]

this is all so confusing....

 

[AtticaFish]

Adam - If you are confused about the cross cut vs. the straight cut zonkers, what is the difference... here is something i was working on awhile back to post up on the site but never got around to doing it. Hopefully this shows the difference in how the hair lays on the strips...

Straight Cut - These are what you want for a tail material where the hide will extend out past the hook. The hide is very soft and flexible, it moves around in the water very easily and has some excellent action.
View attachment 2
This jig has straight cut out behind the hook and a straight cut running up the back of the jig.

Cross Cut - These are made to be wrapped around the hook shank similar to how you would wrap chenille. Just have to make sure the hair is pointing towards the back. It gives a nice full body to a jig or fly and the hair itself actually "breathes" when you give it a jigging motion, it's body expands and contracts.... very cool!!!
View attachment 3
These jigs have both straight and cross cut zonkers. The striped fur out the back is a straight cut. The "body" fur (chart on the top jig) is a cross cut that was wrapped around the hook shank then i added in a small piece of cut from the hide fur (the black) to give it a back color.

Hope this helps.....

 

[hunter7711]

Good job Attica