{{+1}}Tails – woolly bugger tails / flash on the outside{{-1}}
{{start}}
Only some of the things that trout eat have tails and often the tail is very small.
Despite that many of the wet flies that we tie have a tail.
In most cases tails are tied into dry flies as an extension of the body and are generally incorporated in the fly design to give the fly some additional movement. If a tail is incorporated in a wet fly it is generally of much softer material than would have been used for a dry fly and for full tails as opposed to tags are generally equal between the length of the hook and these days up to 5 times the length of the hook shank.
If your fishing flies slow its probably worth avoiding making tails too long because sometimes the fish will hit the movement of the tail and miss the hook completely. This is often referred to as a "short take" or "taking short". In the last few years fishing flies like Woolly Buggers stripped fast or even what is known as roly polie has become very popular and a lot of the flies fish in that style are much longer.
The most common types of materials for wet fly tails include. marabou, synthetics, squirrel, possum and calf tail and of course hackle fibres.
The technique for tying in tails on wet flies for a right handed fly tier are set out below. If you are left handed please remember to switch the instructions around.
Good marabou tails are a real bonus to a wet fly because they have a lot of movement.
Process
A |
|
---|
D |
|
---|
H |
|
---|
{{end}}
Author: StephenChatterton