Tail Material

[wsender]

Just a quick question. Do duck flanks make good tailing material?

 

[gaeronf]

Some people use that, I use wood duck without the pronounced black tips, so I guess you could say yes. I find them very good for tailing, they have a really nice barring.

 

[evw659]

Im sure it would work fine....what color?

 

[Fishidiot]

Sure.
Duck flanks, and mallard in particular, are pretty durable and often exhibit a natural speckled appearance. I use a lot of mallard flank dyed a light brown color.

 

[sandfly]

Will,
For nymphs and wets/emergers they are great. for Dry's they don't have the stiffness to support a fly on the surface.

 

[wsender]

sandfly wrote:
Will,
For nymphs and wets/emergers they are great. for Dry's they don't have the stiffness to support a fly on the surface.

This is what I feared. I should have been more specific and said dry fly tailing material.

For tails on Sulphurs.... I don't have any 'sulphur' colored tailing material, so should I go darker (i.e. CDL) for the tail or lighters (light blue dun/grizzly hackle barbs)?

 

[sandfly]

Go with the light dun colors, will work fine. even a very light grizzly will work for them..

 

[bam]

light or medium dun hackle barbs with a turn of thread underneath to splay them. I tried the microfibettes and they can be a PITA to work with

 

[govtmule]

screw the tails...put an antron, darlon...voltron....etc... shuck of some sort on it. I guess thats more for flush riders but whatever.

 

[sandfly]

even for flush riders if you want them to float hackle or moose is better to keep them up. all the synthetics will allow the butt of the fly to sink witch will pull the fly under (then all you have is a emerger not a dry)

 

[beadhead2]

sandflea is the expert in tail !!!!!!!!
Ask Lou how many sandy has had !!!!!!

 

[mcwillja]

Moose mane and CDL for me

 

[TLoomis]

I like using mallard flanks for the tails on my midges and some dries. I'm no expert tyer but it looks good to me, and seems to work.

I know Coq De Leon (CDL) is a popular tail material that alot of the guys on the US team use.

 

[ryguyfi]

I just bought a few packs of the prepackaged mayfly tails and LOVE them. they make my dries look more professional looking and makes me look like a better tyer than I actually am. For a couple bucks a pack you can tie a bunch of flies with them. Just my 2 cents.

 

[TLoomis]

ryguyfi wrote:
I just bought a few packs of the prepackaged mayfly tails and LOVE them. they make my dries look more professional looking and makes me look like a better tyer than I actually am. For a couple bucks a pack you can tie a bunch of flies with them. Just my 2 cents.

How stiff are they compared to micro fibbets? (if you have ever dealt with them).

 

[goodfortune]

An India dry fly neck makes a good source for tailing material for dries, and they are relatively cheap.

I have found them handy when working with saddle hackle, which tend not to have feathers that can be used for tailing.

 

[ryguyfi]

I just bought the Wapsi May fly tails with water treatment. They are very stiff, sit well on the water, and are pretty easy to tie with. They have made my dries look a whole lot better. I'm very pleased so far. We'll see how the fish like them soon enough if this rain ever stops.

 

[wetfly1]

[color=0033FF]Duck is preferred for wets or nymphs. For dry flies I use spade hackle, moose (body), or micro-fibbetts. Mostly the micro-fibbetts though because once tied in I can move them where I like and the fish don't chew them up. I tie them in with a wrap underneath to hike them up and then split them by hand. Next I brush on a tiny drop of superglue at the base of the split to 'fix' them permanantly.
They are available in most any color...
mike[/color]