Hey all you kip-tailers

[Jiggin_Joe]

you have to select just the right amount to cut off the tail, then pull out some of the underfur, then pull out the unruly hairs and there will be many, and evening up the ends needs doin sometimes too. and all this is with a quality tail.

there is a easy way to tie kip so it dont matter what the end near the head looks like as far as being even. and it helps so you dont have to measure the length either. you just wrap it at the neck with excess hair going past the head with 3 wraps then pull the hair over the head to the length you want. after you finish tying the jig trim off excess with razor. it is alot easier and you get the exact length every time.

jj

[fish_4_all]

For me it is like this:
Best and most action: palmered marabou and schlappen (or large hackle.)
Durability: tails for sure
Ease of use: tails for me, less mess and simpler
What I prefer: Whatever I have, I know can catch fish on anything I tie with any of them.

All of them have their uses and I hate to be caught without any of them at any time when I get serious about tying.

If you want to see "action" take any size jig and palmer 3 marabou feathers on it starting about 1/4 inch down from the jig head, wrap it tight over the last wrap and keep going til you get to the head. Put that in water and see how it all lays back on a pull and then explodes out when you stop. Have had a Coho Salmon come into 6 inches of water to hit jigs and flies like that more than once.

Kip and squirrel tails can be made to be wide and stay that was so they have the same use but won't have the change in profile unless I have been doing it wrong for all this time. I can get a jig to look really big with both but it didn't have the streamline to puffball changes that marabou or hackle/schlappen give me.

[brimreaper]

Well guess it's my turn. I have used alot of kip recently and I like the way it looks but kip ain't no friend of mine. I would rather use just about any other kind of hair there is because it is so hard for me to get the dern stuff to stay where I want it. Illinois Giller and Jiggin Joe can make some really pretty jigs with that stufff and I can make a passable looking one with it but I'd trade it all for a good tree rat tail just about any day. I have been getting some of the best squirrel tails I have ever seen from FF46 and I may just send all my kip to Joe and Giller. That kip is slick as snail snot and I have retied the same jig about 20 times with it and still not been happy with it. One thing I have learned with kip is that if you put just a tiny bit of nail polish on the hook shank and then start your thread wrap it dosent seem to slip as bad. As a matter of fact I have started doing that on all the jigs I tie. It just keeps me from ever having to retie due to the hair slipping or pulling out the back. As far as durablity is concerned kip will last about as long as your hook will but tree rat will last about as long and it is alot easier for me to find road kill squirrels than it is road kill calves Any way everybody finds their own favorite tying material as they go so by all means try it and see if you like it. I wouldn't recommend buying out the store before you really give it an honest try though. I am like Fish4all in that palmered hackel is one of the best actions you can put on a jig but a bluegill bed will rip it to shreads in just a few minutes. So you have my humble opinion for what you paid for it lol good luck with whatever you try and no matter which one you go with you'll catch fish with it if you believe in it........brim

[Doc Crappie]

Well guess it's my turn. I have used alot of kip recently and I like the way it looks but kip ain't no friend of mine. I would rather use just about any other kind of hair there is because it is so hard for me to get the dern stuff to stay where I want it. Illinois Giller and Jiggin Joe can make some really pretty jigs with that stufff and I can make a passable looking one with it but I'd trade it all for a good tree rat tail just about any day. I have been getting some of the best squirrel tails I have ever seen from FF46 and I may just send all my kip to Joe and Giller. That kip is slick as snail snot and I have retied the same jig about 20 times with it and still not been happy with it. One thing I have learned with kip is that if you put just a tiny bit of nail polish on the hook shank and then start your thread wrap it dosent seem to slip as bad. As a matter of fact I have started doing that on all the jigs I tie. It just keeps me from ever having to retie due to the hair slipping or pulling out the back. As far as durablity is concerned kip will last about as long as your hook will but tree rat will last about as long and it is alot easier for me to find road kill squirrels than it is road kill calves Any way everybody finds their own favorite tying material as they go so by all means try it and see if you like it. I wouldn't recommend buying out the store before you really give it an honest try though. I am like Fish4all in that palmered hackel is one of the best actions you can put on a jig but a bluegill bed will rip it to shreads in just a few minutes. So you have my humble opinion for what you paid for it lol good luck with whatever you try and no matter which one you go with you'll catch fish with it if you believe in it........brim

Well said if I do say so myself there Mr. Brim

[JUNGLEJIMJIGS]

Kip does like to roll over on you.To counter this I pick out the finer stuff so it isn't bulky then I start wrapping it below where I want it to go.When I tighten it down it "usually" goes where I want it.Hang in there brim,you'll get it.

[Crappie Dale]

It seems like when you fellas get into kip tail, that's all ye use... Joe, etc...

What's the deal with that stuff? What's the action like in the water?

We use to use alot of Kip Tail on ice during the ice fishing season for crappie , Gills and perch that was in WI. for me

Most of the market up north suported those type jigs in those materials

Crappie Dale