Squirrel zonker

I used to hate zonkers; those pre cut rabbit strips were like hell to tie with: too thick skin, too long hair, too wide strips. I stopped tying them until someone told me how to cut my own strips. So now I cut real zonker strips, that can be used for small hook sizes and made from any kind of fur. And zonkers are really great flies; imitative with lots of key characters especially profile and movement.

1. Start by tying in the ribbing at the hook bend.
2. Let the ribbing pass under the hook to one eye width behind the eye
3. Cover the ribbing and hook shaft with an even layer of thread
4. Tie in silver tinsel where the tied in rib ends
5. Turn the tinsel the the bend of the hook and back again to form en even layer
6. Tie down tinsel and cut of excess
7. Prepare a narrow (2-3 mm) zonker strip
8. Tie in strip just behind hook eye with hair direction towards the anterior of the hook
9. Pull tight the back end og the strip, and secure with first turn of ribbing
10. Turn ribbing in open turns
11. Tie down ribbing just behind hook eye (for further details see this article on tinsel bodies)
12. Prepare a thread loop for spinning a hackle
13. Separate loop and wax one thread
14. Let a small tuft of loose squirrel hair stick to wax and get caught between tha threads
15. Spin thread with a hackle plier or dubbing twister
16. Turn 'hackle' 2-3 times round hook shank just behind eye while stroking back hairs
17. Tie down 'hackle' and cut.
18. Finish off fly and varnish