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Whilst a lot of the things we seek to imitate with flies don't in fact have tails we still tie what are commonly referred to as tails into most of our flies. I am a firm believer that in some flies realistic eyes are a trigger that elicits a response from fish. There are many ways of adding eyes to a fly.

Reasons we tie tails into flies

Aesthetic reasons:

That is the fly may just looks better, more balance or more complete with a tail.

For mechanical reasons on dry flies:

In most cases tails are tied into dry flies as an extension of the body and are generally incorporated in the fly design to help the dry fly to float. Traditional dry flies rely on the hackle and the tail to support the fly on the surface film of the water and without the tail the bend of the hook may penetrate the surface film making the fly easier to sink than is the case when a tail is incorporated. If a tail is incorporated in the fly to support the fly then the tail is generally equal in length to between 1/3 of the length of the hook shank and the full length of the hook shank.

For mechanical reasons on wet flies:

Tails are often tied into wet flies even when the things we seek to imitate with fly that we're tying don't in fact have tails because it makes the fly swim better and overcomes problems such as twisting that would otherwise occur. Tails tied into wet flies for mechanical reasons are generally around the same length as the hook shank. Slightly longer tails may produce a better mechanical or attracting advantage but the offset is that if the tail is too long the striking fish may hit the tail and miss the business end of the hook completely. This is referred to as a short strike or striking short.

As attractors particularly on wet flies:

Attractor type tails are often tied into wet flies partly for imitative purposes but more often than not to attract fish. The material selected to tie these types of tails is very important with some of the best materials being marabou or soft animal fur such as rabbit, beaver, mink and kangaroo. Flies using these types of tails often have substantial bodies or hackles Palmered along the body both of which increase the currents around the fly which move the soft tail materials.

To represent real tails and other appendages such as gills or trailing shucks that hang behind the things we seek to imitate with flies:

Obvious examples of  real tails are fish tails.  Good example of  tails that are tied in to represent other appendages on things we seek to imitate with flies are trailing shucks that often are still connected to emerging insects such as may flies, caddis flies and damsel flies and appendages such as gills that often are located  at the rear of some nymphs.

To represent tail like appendages on some drowned beetles:

A tail like feature is often tied into beetle flies. These tail like features on beetles aren't really a tails but are tied in to imitate the beetle wing parts that often trail behind the beetle like a tail when it gets trapped in the water mid flight.

Alternatives

A	Tag dry tails Generally for dry flies I like tag tails to be about as long as the gape of the hook is wide and to flare out to between 1/2 and 2/3 the gape of the hook. Red Tag

B	Tag wet tails For wet flies I like the tag to between the width of the gape of the hook and two gape widths long and between 1/4 and 2/3 of the gape of the hook wide. Chatto's Mudeye

C	Hair and hackle tails on dry flies Sometimes these are strung such as those used on a mudeye fly other times there just loose as used in a BMS. Black spinner

D	Deer hair tails on dry flies These are all basically the same shape and are all tied in in a similar way. They consist of two "eye balls" connected by a shaft and are tied onto the top of the hook shank, that has a foundation of thread, using firstly figure of eight wraps and then a couple of wraps under the eyes but over the hook to lock them into position. Whilst they are traditionally popular in salt water fly tying there is and increasing incidence of their use in both trout and bass fly tying. Adams Irresistible

E	Woolly bugger type tails Woolly bugger tails

F	Matuka type tails If your looking for hackles for a matuka tail the best option is hackles  a round round  tip rather than a pointed tip. Matuka

G	Hair and hackle tails on wet flies There are many hackle and hair products used as tails for flies. Blue & teal

H	Dahlberg diver type tails The addition of outward facing feathers toa woolly bugger type tail give the added advantage of the tail feathers pulsating close as the fly is pulled forward and then open up when the retrieve is paused. Dahlberg diver

I	Deceiver tails A combination of natural and synthetic fibres provided a deceiver with a tail that has plenty of movement , is durable and has a little hot spot of sparkle. Deceiver

J	Split tails - hair or hackle Most mayflies have split tails and this is just one way of emulating them. Spinners

K	Zonker strip tails One of the advantages of using zonker strips as tails either on the top of the hook shank or below the hook shank as in this example is that the soft fibres give plenty of movement to the fly. Bass Jig

L	Rubber tails I don't understand why these are not more popular. They are a great way of giving the fly a movement reminiscent of the movement of a soft plastic lure. Estuary fly

M	Long fish tails Two contrasting layers of polar fibre can make a very realistic tail representation. Mullet fly

M	Long fish tails Turkey biot feather found their way onto nymph representations in Americia during the 70's and are still popular. Prince nymph

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