The First Steps

• Slide an appropriately sized cone-head weight onto your 1/0 jig hook and insert the hook into your vise. Though this fly can be tied up to 3/0 hook sizes, 1/0 is the best all-around size for both bass and trout as it is neither too large or too small for hooking all sizes of fish and keeping them on the line. Attach your 140 denier thread in front of the cone and build a small thread taper to prevent the cone head from sliding over the hook to the eye. Next, jump your thread over the cone and wind your thread back over the hook shank, creating a thread base, until your thread is directly above the barb of the hook. To add the rabbit strip tail, briefly remove the hook from the vise, turn it upside-down, and poke the hook point through the backside of the middle of the rabbit strip so that it extends two to three inches beyond the bend of the hook. Re-insert your hook into the vise and, because the fly rides upside-down, rotate your vise and the hook so that you may also tie the fly upside-down.
  
  

Tying in the Tail and Body

• With your cone head secure and the rabbit strip tail inserted on the fly, wind your thread a couple of times around the leathery portion of the tail above the barb, being careful not to wrap over the rabbit fur. Next, tie in a piece of gold wire for the ribbing and a small length of diamond braid, color to match, directly on top of that. With your tail, rib, and body all tied in, wind your tread two thirds up the hook shank, then wrap the diamond braid up to the thread and tie it off. Next, lay the rabbit strip over the body and tie it off with your thread. Finally, to finish this portion of the body, carefully wind the wire rib four to six times over the rabbit and tie it off with your thread.
  
  

Final Steps

• With your rabbit strip, gold rib, and diamond braid all tied in and body created, add two rubber legs, color to match, on each side of the fly directly behind the rabbit strip and trim them to equal the length of the hook shank. Next, tie in a few pieces of Krystal Flash or Flashabou for added luminescence. Finally wind a piece of marabou, color to match, directly in front of the cone head, for added profile and movement. Add a couple of half hitches manually or with your whip-finish tool, cut off your thread, and add a drop of head cement for added durability.