A thought occurred to me a while back after noticing a lot of variation in the length of tied jigs' tails.

Options were considered:

  • Cut all the material at one time and length
  • Use a ruler
  • Use finger
  • Make a gauge


Did not want to cut all the hair at one time for multiple jigs and there was the problem of where the hair was tied in on the hook shank.

A ruler was cumbersome and difficult to get consistent measurements.

Finger from knuckle to tip would probably work in some cases but is limited to only one length tail.

So, an ingenious invention was needed.

Thus was born the tail gauge:

Name: Tail Gauge.jpg Views: 302 Size: 79.7 KB

Used some ABS plastic and cut out a notch equal to the desired tail length as measured behind the hook bend. The one pictured is 1 1/2" at the notch.

Simply tie the material on, insert the gauge against the hook inside bend while pulling the hair out to the end of the gauge. Hold hair at measurement point, put down the gauge and grab scissors, cut at the finger marked spot.

This might be handy for some who are having trouble with tail lengths. You can make one each for different lengths if needed.

I only have the one and still use it often but have strayed into the area of eyeballing it more lately while intentionally making various jig lengths for different sized baitfish.

It's not much, but has helped me quite a bit over time.