Purple Zonker Streamer Fly Tying Video Material Kit
The Purple Zonker Streamer is the weird one in the box that outfishes half your "normal" patterns. Originally designed by Dan Byford in the 1970s, the Zonker Streamer drew from New Zealand streamer designs to create a baitfish imitation that actually moves like the real thing. This purple variant pushes the color spectrum into attractor territory, and it flat-out works on trout, bass, and pike that want something a little different drifting through their lane.
What It Imitates
The Zonker Streamer imitates a wide range of baitfish, from small shiners to juvenile chubs, depending on the size you tie. The mylar tubing body throws flash like a real baitfish's lateral line, while the rabbit strip back pulses and breathes with every current change or strip. In purple, you're leaning more into the attractor side of things, triggering predatory instincts even when nothing in the water column actually looks like a tiny purple fish.
How To Use It
Strip it, swing it, or dead drift it. That's the beauty of the Zonker's rabbit strip construction - it moves and looks alive no matter how you present it. For trout in rivers, try swinging it on a down-and-across presentation through deeper runs and letting the current do the work. In stillwater or slow pools, a strip-pause retrieve gives the rabbit fur time to flare and collapse, which is usually when the eat comes.
This pattern shines when you're covering water and searching for aggressive fish. Work it through the heads and tailouts of pools, along undercut banks, and through any deeper holding water where predatory fish stack up. On lakes and ponds, cast it along weed edges and strip it back with varied speed until you find what they want that day.
When To Use It
Purple is a low-light and dirty-water ace. Overcast days, early mornings, late evenings, and stained runoff conditions are where this color really earns its spot. The combination of flash from the mylar body and the high-contrast purple silhouette gives fish something to lock onto when visibility drops. It's also a solid choice year-round whenever baitfish are on the menu, which for most predatory species is basically always. Sizes 2 through 6 cover most trout and warmwater situations, with the bigger hooks pulling duty for pike and bass.
Why We Like It
This is a material kit paired with a tying video, which means you're getting the exact materials you need and step-by-step instruction to tie the pattern correctly. No guessing at substitutions, no leftover materials you'll never use again. The Zonker is also one of the best "first streamer" patterns to learn because the construction is straightforward but teaches you key techniques like working with mylar tubing and tying in rabbit strips. And once you've tied a few, you'll realize how durable these flies are compared to other streamer patterns. That rabbit strip is lashed down tight and holds up to fish after fish.
Comparisons
Purple Zonker Streamer vs Woolly Bugger:
The Woolly Bugger is probably the most universal streamer-style fly out there, and it's a fair question whether you need both. The Bugger's marabou tail gives it a softer, more subtle action, while the Zonker's rabbit strip and mylar body create a profile that's flashier and more explicitly "baitfish." If you're imitating leeches or nymphs, the Bugger wins. If you want something that screams "eat me, I'm a minnow," grab the Zonker.
Purple Zonker Streamer vs Clouser Minnow:
The Clouser is a weighted, jigging baitfish pattern that rides hook-point-up and excels in deeper water and around structure. The Zonker swims more horizontally and has a far more lifelike undulating action thanks to the rabbit strip. Choose the Clouser when you need to get deep fast and bounce off the bottom. Choose the Zonker when you want a slower, more natural presentation in the mid to upper water column.
Purple Zonker Streamer vs Sculpzilla:
The Sculpzilla is a bottom-hugging sculpin imitation built to be stripped along the substrate, while the Zonker is a mid-column baitfish pattern. There's some overlap in target species, but these two fish very differently. If you're targeting trout that are keyed in on sculpins near rocky bottoms, the Sculpzilla is your pick. The Zonker covers more water and imitates a broader range of forage, making it the better searching pattern when you're not sure what fish are eating.
Original: $40.09
-65%$40.09
$14.03Product Information
Product Information
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Description
The Purple Zonker Streamer is the weird one in the box that outfishes half your "normal" patterns. Originally designed by Dan Byford in the 1970s, the Zonker Streamer drew from New Zealand streamer designs to create a baitfish imitation that actually moves like the real thing. This purple variant pushes the color spectrum into attractor territory, and it flat-out works on trout, bass, and pike that want something a little different drifting through their lane.
What It Imitates
The Zonker Streamer imitates a wide range of baitfish, from small shiners to juvenile chubs, depending on the size you tie. The mylar tubing body throws flash like a real baitfish's lateral line, while the rabbit strip back pulses and breathes with every current change or strip. In purple, you're leaning more into the attractor side of things, triggering predatory instincts even when nothing in the water column actually looks like a tiny purple fish.
How To Use It
Strip it, swing it, or dead drift it. That's the beauty of the Zonker's rabbit strip construction - it moves and looks alive no matter how you present it. For trout in rivers, try swinging it on a down-and-across presentation through deeper runs and letting the current do the work. In stillwater or slow pools, a strip-pause retrieve gives the rabbit fur time to flare and collapse, which is usually when the eat comes.
This pattern shines when you're covering water and searching for aggressive fish. Work it through the heads and tailouts of pools, along undercut banks, and through any deeper holding water where predatory fish stack up. On lakes and ponds, cast it along weed edges and strip it back with varied speed until you find what they want that day.
When To Use It
Purple is a low-light and dirty-water ace. Overcast days, early mornings, late evenings, and stained runoff conditions are where this color really earns its spot. The combination of flash from the mylar body and the high-contrast purple silhouette gives fish something to lock onto when visibility drops. It's also a solid choice year-round whenever baitfish are on the menu, which for most predatory species is basically always. Sizes 2 through 6 cover most trout and warmwater situations, with the bigger hooks pulling duty for pike and bass.
Why We Like It
This is a material kit paired with a tying video, which means you're getting the exact materials you need and step-by-step instruction to tie the pattern correctly. No guessing at substitutions, no leftover materials you'll never use again. The Zonker is also one of the best "first streamer" patterns to learn because the construction is straightforward but teaches you key techniques like working with mylar tubing and tying in rabbit strips. And once you've tied a few, you'll realize how durable these flies are compared to other streamer patterns. That rabbit strip is lashed down tight and holds up to fish after fish.
Comparisons
Purple Zonker Streamer vs Woolly Bugger:
The Woolly Bugger is probably the most universal streamer-style fly out there, and it's a fair question whether you need both. The Bugger's marabou tail gives it a softer, more subtle action, while the Zonker's rabbit strip and mylar body create a profile that's flashier and more explicitly "baitfish." If you're imitating leeches or nymphs, the Bugger wins. If you want something that screams "eat me, I'm a minnow," grab the Zonker.
Purple Zonker Streamer vs Clouser Minnow:
The Clouser is a weighted, jigging baitfish pattern that rides hook-point-up and excels in deeper water and around structure. The Zonker swims more horizontally and has a far more lifelike undulating action thanks to the rabbit strip. Choose the Clouser when you need to get deep fast and bounce off the bottom. Choose the Zonker when you want a slower, more natural presentation in the mid to upper water column.
Purple Zonker Streamer vs Sculpzilla:
The Sculpzilla is a bottom-hugging sculpin imitation built to be stripped along the substrate, while the Zonker is a mid-column baitfish pattern. There's some overlap in target species, but these two fish very differently. If you're targeting trout that are keyed in on sculpins near rocky bottoms, the Sculpzilla is your pick. The Zonker covers more water and imitates a broader range of forage, making it the better searching pattern when you're not sure what fish are eating.
