This is a keeper, i have tried and tested this fly over the summer months and i just cannot wait for the autumn season to arrive to really have fun with this one!
The foam in the head helps give hanging time , the hard head aids in cutting water and change in totally random directions. Body in magnum rabbit pulses and keeps moving during pauses and on the drops.
The added stiffness of the body and base of the tail due to the gluing helps with keeping the tail away so it doesn't foul itself on the hook.And i thing the stiff body helps keeping the bait on track after each strip.
Talking about strips... I like to vary my retrieves, but sharpish small to medium strips followed by good pauses drives the pike mad, very much like playing with a cat, there's only so much teasing they can take.....
I tried to make an "easy" cranked version with lips attached to the bottom of the head, but even with two dumbells tied on the hook and shank this version was very tricky to balance properly to have a cranked effect to it. It needed multiple lip cutting, and even adding so much weight that it was not an "easy" tie anymore. So i gave up on the idea ( they did look good). But to be honest i rather use this jerky version, so much more fun to fish. Try as well to tie them without the shank, they will will hang even more! Put it on a floating line and its such a visual fly for the angler, pure pleasure and fun to make a pike rise to your offering.
Also an other version to add even more hang! Tie without the head , and finish the head with lightly packed bucktail, works wonder on an intermediate or sink line.
