The Live Sessions: Rabbit

 Many thanks to all who took the time to join me again last night for an other stream, and thank you for the generous donations as well!

Last night live stream:

 

So yes, as you saw in the stream i am a big fan of rabbit zonker for pike flies, and also for any other predatory fish out there. A simple rabbit strip on a hook will catch you so many species time and time again, no matter where you are in the world, in fresh or salt water.

To recap the stream, this is where i buy my rabbit pelts: 

https://www.englishrabbitfur.com/ 

I did not purchased from that store since Brexit, not sure how this will impact the prices. If you guys know a similar supplier, please let us know, contact me directly, or leave a comment on any of my social media. I'm pretty sure something similar exist in the EU.

Here's a couple of my tying videos now of the flies we tied last night:

1:The Bunnyciever

2: The Pike Toad:

In bonus i will include the "Heavy Bunny" this is a fly tied for Aimara (Wolf fish) .I was supposed to go to French Guyana last Novembre, but the trip was cancelled due to Covid. This fly is not made to break distance record, its more to lob in between rocks in heavy flow to pull out these amazing predators. But its made with rabbit i'm in sure a similiar tie will work for pike:

This is the video on how i cut my zonkers, remember not to cut against a board as you will cut all those hairs trapped under. Raise the pelt a little before cutting it:

 And remember: don't be afraid in using small flies for pike, in fact after the stream i looked into my top 5 biggest pikes on the fly (with two over 15kgs) and 4 of them were caught using small flies (under 15cm) and three off them were caught on a bunny.

An other bonus using smaller flies is that you can always get that surprise, bonus fish especially on rivers here. Big brown trouts or large perch are often tempted by a bunny , even if this one was intended to catch pike.

To finish a few pics of pikes that fell to small bunny flies:

Big winter girl, caught on a bunny fished slowly and deep on a S6 line

This one grabbed a tiny bunny intended for a rainbow trout( caught on a 4 weight)

Mid June pike caught on a black bunny with body tubing head.

My first big Alaskan tank...Caught on a Chewbacca.

Bunnies lined up for the next day deep in the Alaskan bush.

The original Chewbacca!

 I will end this post with a video of a small tie i call the PugsNcBunny, this fly has caught me the most species on the fly including many saltwater ones, and mixed is footage of that huge girl caught on a four weight (fight lasted exactly 5mins 46...all filmed on the GoPro)

Ps: Someone asked if i use finn raccoon, and yes i do:

 

 

Top 5 pike flies: The Tinsel Tosser.

Not all good flies have to be complicated....Some of my best patterns are very simple to ties. Yes it sure is fun to sit behind the vice with a good whiskey for a couple of hours and tie a big articulated fly. But when it comes to the crunch, a simple fly that is quickly tied, doesn't use 20€ of materials , that you can cast all day without the need of painkillers is a good fly in my books. Especially when it fools fish over and over.
It's also a great fly for beginners. Many newcomers to the sport are fueled by social media and Youtube, and in all fairness i was the same, as usually there's not much information available elsewhere. Big flies, wiggle tails, dragon tails are all the rage at the moment, and they are good flies, but most of my time catching flies ( around 70%) i catch pike on flies that are not bigger than 20cm. Match the hatch is not only applicable to trout fishing...
So this is why the tisel tosser deserves a place in my top five pike flies. As usual, play with flash colors to suit the conditions and with the weight at the front, some days pike will  chase something that glides, and others it's only a sharp jigging action that will induce a take.

My top 5 pike flies, starting with the mighty Gamechanger!

It's a subject that's been in the back of my head for quite some time now, and one that i'm often asked about. What are my top five pike flies?
First of all i do have a top five, but i cannot rank them against each other as they all reach top spot depending on the season, weather condition and of course, pike mood (s) .
So i will not do a countdown type of article, but i will reveal my top five in no particular ranking system.
We start with a firm favorite, the Gamechanger. Undoubtedly it's a fly that will scare most fly tyers. Some see it as too complicated and time consuming others think that it's simply not worth the effort.
Their loss...If well tied a gamechanger will catch a huge amount of fish before it's retirement. It's also very versatile, you can use different materials depending on the action and sink rate needed.
Here's how to tie one:


The easier way is to use synthetic brushes, and to "match the hatch" is even better if you make your own brushes , and it will save you ton of money as brushes cost a fair bit from fly shops.

I call a gamechanger a fly that's made of at least four articulated sections. The sky is the limit, but 4 to 8 sections is the perfect match. You can use only one hook at the front or if the fish are nipping the tail, it's always good to have one or two GC with a small single hook incorporated at the back.
For pike i use a large, strong front hook as it will act as a keel and make that fly track straight.
Most of my GC are  synthetics or bucktail for longevity. Bucktail if i fish shallow waters as they will sink slower . For that really slow sink try a full  trimmed bucktail head like the ones on musky flies , deadly when you need to let it sit to tease moody pikes.
Synthetics are great for deeper waters. And dumbell eye can be used if you really need to get it down faster/ deeper.
You can fish them with many types of retrieve , rolly polly will give you that swimbait action, try to alternate from fast to long stops.And some days they are total suckers for the regular slow speed without interruptions.

Strip them with short and long strips to send them in a crazy jerkbait action. This fly is many flies rolled into one, get out there and get some practice, you will be amazed how one fly can catch fish in many different situations. Definitely deserves a place in my top 5!

Here's a list with all the materials used and where to get them (cheap!):

For the brush:
Wire:Stainless steel 0.20mm
Kanekalon hair:Kanekalon Jumbo Hair
Angelina flash: Angelina fibre
Congo hair:Flytyers dungeon

Wire for the shanks:  check ebay , sellers vary a lot, look for "piano wire" or "spring wire" in 0.8mm or 1mm

Vice: Predator vice

How to make your shanks:

FWA's Pike Toads & where i get my materials.

I have fished tarpon toads for pike for a few years now, and with good success. But i recent times i wanted to make them bigger and with the addition of a large magnum zonker you get that extra movement that drives pikes mental.If you struggle with the "X" style tying for the head, look for tarpon toad flies on YouTube where you will find many videos showing you in details how to tie that way and get these heads done.About YouTube, feel free to like and subscribe on my  channel to help it grow and bring you more contents.
A quick history of the tarpon toad (extract from MidCurrent.com) :
"The Tarpon toad fly was invented by Gary Merriman, owner of the Fish Hawk fly shop in Atlanta,Georgia.The toad is a light-weight, slow sinking fly designed for sight casting, and when it was introduced the early 90's in the Florida Keys, it immediately improved the hook up rates for anglers pursuing  skittish fish".

 Since i left Funky fly tying pro team i have been on a search for fibres to replace the fu*ky fibres and fu*ky hairs that i use on most of my flies. For the fibres i use now congo hair, people will tell you it's different, but in reality its the same stuff! Congo hair is available from http://www.flytyersdungeon.com , based in the U.S these guys will supply you without any worries.I usually do one big order a year to avail from the discounts on shipping they offer. And they have a HUGE range of colours and blends and at only 1.75$ per pack, thats just 1.40 euro! Why pay more?? While you there, pick up some of their Northern lights flash, great flash with two colours and volume, and thats only 1 euro / pack!
For the head of the toads i use Kanekalon hair, primarily used for the hairdressing industry they are perfect for tying flies! Kanekalon is the same stuff that you can find in fly shops but at a fraction of the price!

Delivery of Kanekalon, just look at the size of the packs!

Two big advantages in using Kanekalon, 1:it's cheap, and 2: it's versatile.
I use it straight from the pack for volume, and use a hair dryer to take away the volume and straighten the hairs. I usually use this technique for the tails of my streamers (but i keep the crinkle volume for the body)

Kanekalon, straight out of the pack.

Using heat to straighten the hairs is so important for saltwater baitfish, straight fibres = straight swimming action.

Kanekalon after heat treatment.

I get my Kanekalon from the U.K, go and check https://www.cyberloxshop.co.uk for all they have to offer.One pack of Kanekalon contains usually five to six packs sold in fly shops. and at about 3€ a pack you'll be mad not to use that stuff! Here's a direct link to the hairs that i order: kanekalon jumbo braid
I will reveal in the next few weeks other cheap materials that i use, and cheap doesn't mean lower quality, these are the same stuff you normally buy and use for your streamers!

Wubba Dubba Dubbing

This is a new dubbing, easy to work with, light and very fine but very resistant to pikes teeth.It's not wool, and its not craft fur.It's 100% synthetic.
You can create small baitfish patterns very quickly and with a serious amount of volume! Alternatively you can use it to finish heads on big streamers.

An other advantage of this dubbing is that you can customise your own patterns by using permanent markers.The ink stays very well, and it does not absorb like a sponge, creating a "bleeding" effect. You can achieve very clean stripes on your baitfish. The length of the fibres are about 10 to 12 cm long. I am working on creating my web store at the moment ( long due) where you will be able to get this dubbing, along other things in the future, flies, t-shirts, decals and many other items.
Store should be up and running this summer, i will let you guys know when its open.
For the moment, here's a quick tying tutorial using the Wubba Dubba dubbing using the "X" method. You can of course tie with this technique using  many different types of  fibres.

The Hollow Rooster Candy.

Un streamer qui a l'origine a été monté pour prendre du poisson coq, mais qui donne de tres bons résultats avec les brochets.
Un montage simple avec peu de materiaux, qui se lance facilement même avec des conditions météo difficiles (en general le vent).
Grace au bucktail renversé du ventre au debut du montage, ce streamer possède une tres bonne presence dans l'eau et bouge tres bien.

The Hollow Rooster Candy from Norbert Renaud on Vimeo.
A nice little fly that is great on windy conditions, light with minimum materials but it gets easely noticed in the water.
Usually used for roosters but i works very well on many types of predators.

Sur cette photo on note bien le" hollow" (le vide) créé par le bucktail.

The Clunge Hunter.

TheClungeHunter from Norbert Renaud on Vimeo.

Approuvé....

Flies With Attitude:The Raccoon Bunny

Apres pas mal de demandes pour une SBS sur les raccoon bunnies....la voici enfin prête !

F.W.A :The Raccoon bunny from Norbert Renaud on Vimeo.

Flies With Attitude.

Allez je suis en forme en ce moment....
Montez quelques "quadrupeds", le lapin c'est fantastique!

Flies With Attitude:The Quadruped from Norbert Renaud on Vimeo.

F.W.A's Tutorial

Voici la video de mes "Winter Bugs".

Allez, plus d'excuses!! A vos étaux!!!!

F.W.A: Winter Bug from Norbert Renaud on Vimeo.

F.W.A's Flash Tail Whistlers

Je ne sais pas pourquoi j'ai attendu aussi longtemps pour faire cette video de montage d'un flash tail...
Une des raisons est que c'est un classique et bien connu dans le domaine du broc a la mouche....mais je vois très peu qui la possèdent dans leur boite....dommage pour eux....C'est la mouche qui m'a prit mon premier métré...et bien d'autres après...
Très polyvalente, en été sur soie flottante, jusqu'en plein hiver avec une soie coulante par 7 mètres de fond.
Pour les amateurs de mer, essayez ce montage avec queue argentée corps en chartreuse et le marabou blanc.
FLies With Attitude : Flash tail whistlers from Norbert Renaud on Vimeo.

F.W.A's Articulated FlashTails

A vos étaux!!!!
Plus d'excuses pour ne pas être prêt pour la nouvelle saison!
Vous pouvez changer les tiges Fish Skull pour différentes tailles, celle utilisée dans la vid est la médium en 35mm.
Pour de l'exotisme pourquoi pas mettre un rattle a l'intérieur..
Et pour qu'ils coulent plus vite ajoutez des yeux dumbells devant la tête en fibres.
Pour des eaux claires ou un montage discret changez le flash de la queue avec 4 a 6 schlappens.

The Buford

Brad Bohen monte un Buford...mmmhh sexy..