Thread: best TAIL material for Bluegill?

Gadwall and mallard flank feathers are #1 material for me tying jigs on hooks from a #2 to #12. #2 is rabbit, #3 is marabou. I've caught tens of thousands of panfish, bass and trout using duck feather jigs with a little flash and rabbit hair that I tie in at the throat. They are easy to tie and are a fantastic baitfish imitation. I'm surprised more tiers don't use them more.

my go to gill bait is a 1/64 mop fly tail and body is a nub of the washing mitts. tail extends the width of the hook gap. i do go longer when targeting crappie

The mop fly or jig is something I've been tying this year and think it will be a panfish killer, one more tool in my box. It's early in the year but trout love them and have caught some crappie and gills on them.

I use hackle tips when tying 1/64 jigs for gills. I really like marabou but like stated the gills rip them up pretty fast.

I use saddle hackle

These are some of the hair jigs I use for the gills and crackers and about everything that swims down here. They keep me pretty busy. The yellow chenille I sometimes use comes from a Bobby Garland color called ice tea with lemon. I had zero confidence when I bought it but it has changed my mind. An olive or earth tone body and a white tail has also spoken for quite a few. Jim’s mallard jigs are the bomb and I use those too but I’m too lazy to dig em out and most of this stuff was lying on the bench or close by when I got the urge to tie em up. I started out looking for a color that my fish liked then moved to durable materials, and don’t turn your back on silly legs or spinnerbait skirts. Those last forever til a tree takes em.

The arctic fox is very good and Fatman has dyed lots of different colors. Give him a holler if you want to go down that rabbit hole. Wish I could tie with rabbit but allergies to it keep me away. Love the action though.

those look great!

I just tied some 1/32 oz jigs using olive mop yarn and added some hair off a coon tail that had a bad day. The black and brown over the olive mop material should do well.