Redneck Rabbit - Olive
by Steve May - March 15, 2003

Tying Eyes
1. Make a solid thread base on the hook shank and then attach the hour glass eyes back about two hook eye widths from the front of the hook shank. NOTE: The hour glass eyes are attached to the top of the hook shank – this makes the fly ride upside down in the water.

Tying Body
2. Attach the chenille to the hook shank behind the eyes and cover it with thread all the way back to the hook bend. Then bring the thread back to just behind the eyes.

Wrapping Body
3. Wrap the chenille forward to form the body. Tie off and trim chenille. NOTE: Try to coax the flashy filaments so they do not trap one another as you wrap the strand forward. They should stick out like hackle filaments on a woolly bugger.

Making redneck
4. Attach hackle at the tip of the feather and wrap the red hackle immediately behind the eyes to form a throat for the fly and then advance the thread to a point in front of the eyes. NOTE: A red throat is a key trigger ingredient in this pattern that imitates blood or the flared gills of a minnow in distress.

Attaching Wing
5. Take a zonker strip and pop the leather over the hook point about one inch from the back of the zonker strip. NOTE: The fur should taper backwards and a short “tail” should extend beyond the back of the hook.

Securing wing on hook bend
6. Remove the hook from the vice and tighten the zonker strip so it butts up against the back of the chenille body. NOTE: Poking the leather of the zonker strip over the hook point and sliding down around the hook bend to the base of the body materials makes for an easy and secure connection for this inverted pattern.

Fastening wing and finish
7. Replace the hook in the vice and tie off the front of the zonker strip in front of the eyes. Tie off, trim the thread and cement the head. NOTE: it is easiest to replace the hook upside down in the vise now to finish this fly.