What it is
Hareline Shimmer Rabbit Strips are crosscut rabbit fur strips with dyed, shimmery tips. On the hook they wrap easily for palmered bodies, and in the water the rabbit fibers breathe and pulse with very little movement. The shimmer at the tips gives a baitfish-like glow without changing the soft, natural motion rabbit is known for.
What to tie with it
Use these strips for palmered streamer and leech bodies by wrapping the crosscut strip forward like a chenille, then brushing the fibers back as you go. They also make lively streamer tails, crustacean claws, and even palmered mouse bodies when you want a fuzzy profile that moves. Because it’s rabbit, it’s at its best when you let the fibers swim rather than trimming them too tight.
Flies and the fish they're for
Rabbit-strip streamers and leeches are staple flies for trout in rivers and stillwaters when they’re chasing baitfish, sculpins, or big leeches, and they’re equally at home for smallmouth in rivers and reservoirs when you want that pulsing, breathing body. The same rabbit-strip style is also a common way to build bulky mouse patterns for brown trout at night on banks and under cutouts. In saltwater, rabbit-strip baitfish and leech-style streamers are regularly used for stripers and other inshore predators where a soft, flowing silhouette and a little flash help fish track the fly.
How it compares
Compared with Hareline Shimmer Rabbit Fur Strips (straight cut), these are crosscut, so they’re made for wrapping and palmering clean, even bodies; the straight-cut version is better suited to being tied in as a strip for wings or tails. Both have the same shimmer tips.
