Little Rascal

Materials

Hook

Streamer hook about 2X shorter than a standard streamer hook, sizes 4 to 6 (Fulling Mill's production fly is a size 6)Hawkins does not publish the hook model

Cone

Brass or tungsten conehead sized to the hook, slid on first

Thread

140 denier or 6/0 to match the body colour

Loopoptional

Version 2.0: a short loop of stiff mono tied vertically at the bend under the tail to stop the strip fouling on the hook

Tail

Rabbit zonker strip, about one shank length past the bend; ginger for our version (Hawkins' colours are white, olive, black and olive over white)

Body

The same rabbit strip wrapped forward to the cone; in 2.0 a dubbing brush is palmered alongside it for bulk and sparkle

Flashoptional

A few strands of Flashabou each side (blue on the white Pere Marquette fly)

Adhesive

Zap-A-Gap behind the cone and on the thread base

Steps

1. 1.Debarb the hook, slide the cone up to the eye and start the thread behind it, building a small thread dam so the cone cannot slide back.
2. 2.Run the thread to the bend and, for the 2.0 tie, bind in a short loop of stiff mono standing straight up off the bend; it should be about the height of the hook gap.
3. 3.Cut a rabbit strip to length so the tail reaches roughly one shank length beyond the bend, taper the hide at the tip and tie the strip in at the bend, hide down, fur trailing back over the mono loop.
4. 4.Add a pinch of Flashabou down each side of the tail if you want it.
5. 5.Tie in the dubbing brush by its wire core at the bend (2.0 only).
6. 6.Wrap the rabbit strip forward in close turns, stroking the fur back each turn, and secure it just behind the cone.
7. 7.Palmer the dubbing brush forward through the rabbit in open turns, tie off behind the cone and cut the wire.
8. 8.Pick out the dubbing so it blends into the fur, then trim any stray guard hairs that sit over the hook eye.
9. 9.Build a thread collar behind the cone, whip finish there and add a drop of glue so the cone stays seated.
10. 10.Wet the fly and check that the tail is slim and the strip swings freely off the loop; the profile should stay narrow.

From the tier

• Chuck Hawkins says trout key on different sizes and profiles, and this slim, short fly reads as a leech or lamprey; white is his spring salmon-fry colour and black his choice for cloudy days when lampreys are showing on landed fish.
• He slows the retrieve in cold water and speeds it up as the river warms, and skips it altogether in very dirty water in favour of a big streamer.
• Jon Ray's 2.0 changes came from guiding with Ed McCoy, Jeff Topp, Russ Madden and Steve Pels: the vertical mono loop and palmered brush cut fouling and add body. Ray fishes a white one with blue Flashabou on the Pere Marquette, throwing downstream for steelhead and letting it swing before a smooth, steady retrieve.

Hook and hardware

• Short-shank streamer hook1

  size 4 to 6, 2X short

  Hook

  1

• Hard monooptionalabout 2 in

  20 lb

  Loop

  about 2 in

Feathers and fur

• Rabbit zonker strip1 strip

  ginger (or white, olive, black)

  TailBody

  1 strip

Synthetics, flash and legs

• Dubbing brushoptional1 brush

  tan or ginger, fine

  Body

  1 brush

• Flashabouoptionala pinch

  pearl or blue

  Flash

  a pinch

Thread and finish

• Tying thread1 spool

  140 denier, tan or ginger

  Thread

  1 spool

• Zap-A-Gap1

  Adhesive

  1

Other

• Conehead1

  brass or tungsten, sized to hook

  Cone

  1