By Eric Martin
The simple marabou jig has been a staple of the steelhead fishing scene for years, but new styles using blends of rabbit fur and a soft, webby feather called schlappen will forever change the way you look at marabou. In fact, you may never fish a marabou jig again.
In the last few years, fishing jigs for steelhead has exploded in popularity, and it's no wonder why. Requiring minimal equipment or experience, both veteran and novice steelheaders alike are discovering the use of jigs to be a simple, yet deadly way to target steelhead under a multitude of situations.
Slow pockets, boulder strewn slots, small pools, and broad runs that may be difficult if not impossible to fish with other methods are all perfectly suited for the use of a float and jig. A methodical, slice and dice type approach to a likely piece of water allows the angler to break up the entire run into a series of precise drifts, requiring only a few casts to adequately probe for a willing biter. Unlike standing for hours at a single hole, pounding the same piece of water over and over with drift gear, the use of a float and jig can allow for much more water to be covered in a short amount of time, thus greatly improving your odds for success. It's no secret that a person who covers a lot of water, will out fish a person with their feet or boat anchor firmly planted in one spot all day.
Logically, a jig fished under a float, suspended above the bottom, should result in few hang-ups and lost gear. But, fishing often defies logic, and there will be days where you cringe as cast after cast results in donating expensive jigs to every rock, log and stump in the river. If you thought your gas bill was high just getting to your favorite spot, wait until you go to refill your jig box. Unless of course, you take the practical (and more enjoyable) route, and decide to tie your own.
It doesn't take much to get started tying your own schlappen jigs. A fly tying vise, hackle pliers, a bobbin, a spool of strong thread like Kevlar or Gel Spun Polymer (G.S.P), a few packs of schlappen feathers and crosscut rabbit strips, some Krystal Flash, a bottle of head cement for securing the finishing knot, and of course, hooks.
There are several options for hooks, including lead head and those with solid brass beads fixed in place with a heavy pin. The brass bead heads have a clean, sleek look, which will never chip if you accidentally fish them too deep or bang them off rocks. One thing to note is that brass being less dense than lead, results in heads that are considerably lighter than similar sized lead heads. This is great for low, clear water and spooky fish which require smaller, stealthier tactics. If larger, heavier heads are needed to get down quickly in deep holes or faster water, or perhaps the option of painting the heads is appealing, then lead is the way to go.
As with most things, quality materials will produce quality final products. This is monumentally true in jig construction, and while a jig tied with lesser quality materials may still draw bites, it will likely have a short life span as materials break down, fall apart, or colors fade.
What you should look for when selecting top-notch schlappen feathers, which are 5- to 7 inches long with continuous edge margins. They have a gentle taper from base to tip, they're uniformly dyed colors, and a thin shaft. Schlappen feathers are those found on the back of a rooster and they are wider and longer than the standard neck hackle. Select those with thin shafts. When wrapping the feather around the hook shank a thick shafts will often wrap irregularly, split, or break. Held by the tip, when a quality schlappen feather is pulled backwards between your fingers, the barbs should cling together in small clumps without separating individually; a characteristic of a saddle hackle feather.
When it comes to picking out quality crosscut rabbit strips, look for thin skin with equal amounts of both shorter under fur and longer outer guard hair attached. Overall length of the fur should be about 1 inch. Cheap crosscut rabbit strips often have thick skins which are hard to wrap, don't stack well, and have thin, short, sparse fur.
Having tied literally thousands of jigs over the years, with materials from multitudes of sources, I wholeheartedly believe that the absolute best source of top quality materials is Hareline Dubbin, Inc., based is the small town of Monroe, Oregon. Providing materials and products through a series of licensed retailers and dealers, if your local fly shop is worth its weight in feathers, it will carry Hareline. For those without a local dealer nearby, there are numerous sources of Hareline Dubbin products available online.
HOW TO TIE: To begin tying schlappen jigs, the first step is to tie in a few strands of Krystal Flash or the tip of a hackle feather to serve as a tail on the jig. Next, using two strips of crosscut rabbit, attach each strip individually, making sure one is slightly in front of the other, and that the hair is pointing back. Now begin wrapping the rabbit forward, making one full wrap with one strip, then the next wrap with the other strip, each slightly overlapping the previous. Don't try to hold both strips and wrap at the same time, as there will be too much overlap of the colors and the jig body will become too bulky. Once you wrap to within about 1/8 inch from the jig head, tie off and remove one strip, then the next.
With the underbody portion of the jig finished, you must now select the schlappen feathers for the collar. I prefer to use two feathers on most of my jigs, with the exception being small, ‘mini' jigs where I will only use one. Trim each feather at the point near the base, where the fluffy after feather (which resembles marabou) meets the vanes. Next, remove about ¼ inch of vane, exposing the bare shaft. After you have done this with each feather, holding them both together, tie the bare shafts to the hook shank at the same time. Note that feathers are not flat, and have a natural curved “)” shape. Make sure you tie them so that the curve bends towards the rear of the jig.
Now, grasping both feathers with the hackle pliers, begin wrapping them in tandem around the hook shank. Ideally, it should take about three full wraps to reach the jig head. Fewer wraps is often a preferred look also, and allows for a smaller, softer profile in the water. Once wrapped, secure the feathers with a couple wraps of thread, trim off the excess, then make a few more wraps of thread and add a finishing knot. Place a drop or two of head cement on the thread wraps and you're done.
So, the next time the river is blown out, your friends bum all your gear, or the local sporting goods store doesn't have quite what you are looking for, spend an evening creating custom jigs with quality materials, in patterns you choose! Experiment with all the various options available to make jigs truly unique to your specific applications. Solid body colors, blended, chenille bodies, bead bodies, painted lead heads, brass bead heads; the possibilities are endless. Tying your own schlappen and rabbit fur jigs is economical and fun, with a special feeling of satisfaction coming every time your float slips beneath the surface!