THE SWAMP RABBIT
With fly fishing for Tarpon having become more and more popular over the years, especially along the Florida coast line, what was a relatively easy "gi'mmy" only a decade or so ago, has become progressively tougher over the years, due to the ever increasing pressure.
No longer will the Silver Kings of the Keys, Hommossasa and other Tarpon Meccas, accept the old Key Style flies tied on 4/0 or 5/0 hooks with gay abandon, rather they have become a lot more selective in what they will eat, and for that reason most Tarpon flies in regular use today are much smaller.
Now days most Tarpon fishers fly boxes will be filled by Toads, shrimpy things and scaled down Keys style Tarpon patterns, tied either with the traditional deceiver type tails, or more often rabbit zonker strips, and dressed on 1/0 or 2/0 hooks, with just an odd one tied on a 3/0 "meat hook"
Toad flies in various guises have been all the rage for the last 3 or 4 years, and are responsible for the downfall of hundreds of Tarpon every season, but with these patterns being fed to the fish on a daily basis, a few guides started looking for alternatives for those times when old bucket mouth becamefinicky. One of these was Miami based Bob Lemay, who was looking for a fly that would be equally effective whether fished ocean side or in the back country, and going back to the previously so effective Keys style dressings, came up with a more compact version, which rather than being tied with all the dressing at the rear of the hook,(thus elongating its overall size)tied his creation along the whole of the shank.
Utilising relatively short shanked hooks in sizes 1/0 and 2/0, the result was a fly that had both bulk and lots of movement, yet in keeping with todays thinking, retained a small and compact profile.
Bob's pattern, which has since been christened the Swamp Rabbit was not only an immediate success, but arguably, it very quickly proved to be one of the most versatile Tarpon patterns ever to come off of the fly tying conveyer belt. Sticking to just the two mentioned hook sizes, it regularly fools the giants of the ocean side, and back country, and is equally effective in tempting the baby Tarpon of the Mangroves and channels, of Florida, Costa Rica Honduras, Belize and other Gulf destinations.
The Swamp Rabbit is also a very quick and easy fly to tie, with the only materials required being Rabbit Zonker strip, Cross Cut Rabbit, Schlappen feathers and a couple of Strands of Krystal Flash.
Bob's originally tied the Swamp Rabbit with a tail and the rear 2/3rds of the body made up of Purple Rabbit, and the front third of Black Schlappen, and in the back country and/or early mornings, this, colour along with Black/Red, are still the most productive colour combinations. In clear water, lighter colour combinations such as Yellow/Chartreuse, Grey/Chartreuse and Tan/Pink, are more effective.
In the tutorial below, I have tied the Yellow/Chartreuse version, but before moving on to the actual tying instructions, as this fly uses a section of Rabbit zonker strip for a tail, you should seriously consider firstly adding an anti fouling set up to our hook. Rabbit due to its suppleness and movement, is an absolutely fantastic tying material, but the downside is, it is very prone to tangling. Consequently, any fly tied with a zonker strip tail, should incorporate an anti-fouling rig, failing which it will foul almost continuously, rendering the fly next to useless for fishing purposes.
There are a number of anti tangle set ups that can be used in conjunction with Rabbit, and I suppose the most common it to attach a stiff loop made up of 30lb mono to the rear of the hook.
This is a reasonably effective method of preventing the tail wrapping around the hook, but certainly does not make the fly 100% foul proof, and also has one serious drawback inasmuch as,these flies must kept in a foam base fly box or similar, and cannot be keptin a wallet, as this flattens the mono loop, making them totally ineffective.
For flies with longer tails,I much prefer the alternative of affixing a mono link through the zonker strip, and attaching the loose end of the mono to the back of the hook, immediately underneath the section of the zonker strip which I am attaching. There are plenty of illustrations going around showing this procedure, and normally it is suggested that one hole pierced through the zonker strip will suffice. However, I find this rather tends to lump up the strip somewhat, and whilst more efficient than the loop method, I go a stage further and make four holes in the zonker strip, which tends to avoid any lumping up, and makes the fly totally foul proof.
To rig up this type of attachment, make four holes, about an inch or so back from the end of the Zonker strip that you will eventually tie on to the hook. Take a length of stiff mono of about 25/30lb b.s. and burn and melt one end under a flame to create a blob of mono big enough to prevent the whole length slipping back through the holes. Now thread the other end of the mono through the furthest hole from the front end of the Zonker strip, then back in and out of the other three holes, as per the photo below (picture & mono link darkened for illustration purposes)
The single strand attachment is a little more fiddly than the loop method, but is worth the extra time it takes, however when tying flies with zonker strip tails of less than 3" the easiest and a highly effective method, is to tie in a good clump of fairly stiff bucktail on top of the hook shank. You must keep all of the hairs on top of the shank and spread out so as it forms a fan shape, thus creating a platform support for the zonker tail. This is exactly the same method used in the construction of flat wing style tyings, and for extra strength you can add a dob of softex or soft body to the base end of your platform.

Mono Loop Mono Link Bucktail Platform
With the Swamp Rabbit requiring a zonker tail of no more than 2.5" the bucktail platform fits the bill fine, and that is what I have used in this tutorial, so with out further ado this is how to tie the Yellow & Chartreuse version of the Swamp Rabbit
Hook: UK Salt V Cut (Varivas 2600 ST V) Gamakatsu SC17 or similar Tarpon hook Size 1/0 & 2/0
Thread: 8/0 Chartreuse
Tail: Yellow Zonker Strip
Flash: Yellow or Pearl Krystal Flash
Body: Rear 2/3rds, Yellow Cross Cut Rabbit (You can get away with Zonker Strips but hair might be shorter)
Front 1/3rd, Chartreuse Schlappen or large webby cock saddle hackle
Head: Built up with tying thread
Eyes: Flat stick on
Finish: Several coats of Loon Hard Head or your favourite head cement
STEPS 1 & 2



Tie in the bucktail anti tangle guard as described above, then taking a length of Zonker strip between 2' to 2.5" in length,
securethis firmly on top of the hookimmediatelyon top of the point where you initially secured the bucktail.
STEP 3

Tie in 3 strands of Yellow or Pearl Krystal Flash with half of the flash laying along side of the zonker tail and half facing towards the hook point. Fold
the forward facing strands back over and tie down so as they lay along the opposite side of the tai. Trim to size. Place a little cement over all of the
thread wraps for extra security.
STEP 4

Tie in a length of Yellow cross cut rabbit on the underside of the hook shank immediately in front of the tail, and then wrap
the tying thread back down the hook shank for about 2/3rd of its length.
STEP 5

Palmer the cross cut rabbit along the hook shank in tight wraps, pulling back the hair with each revolution to prevent trapping
it under the tying thread. When you reach the tying thread, wrap down tightly with several turns and cut off the excess.
STEP 6

Take a Chartreuse Schlappen feather and strip the stalk, leaving some of the fluff still attached. Tie this in immediately in front of the yellow
cross cut. Cut off the excess hackle stalk and secure tightly with thread wraps, bringing the tying thread to a point immediately behind the eye
of the hook.
STEP 7



of tying thread, and carefully cut off the excess.
STEP 8

Build up a large head with your tying thread by taking several turns back and forward over the tied inSchlappen, tapering slightly
as the bulk begins to form. This head formation process also helps push the hackle barbs so the form a veil over the front of the Yellow Rabbit.
STEP 9

Once you are satisfied with the size of the head and profile, all that remains is to add a couple of flat stick on eyes, apply a couple of
coats of Loon Hard Head or your favourite head cement and you are finished.
Congratulations!! You have just tied yourself one of the most effective and versatile flies you could have in your box, for not only is the Swamp Rabbit a
first class Tarpon flywhich works in all the locations previously described, but it has also accounted for good numbers of Snook, Red Fish, Jack Crevalles
and many of the other speciesthat inhabit back country or mangrove locations....And I bet it only took you 5 minutes to tie it!!