Jig Proportions

Hey Guys, I would like to ask you about the proportions when tying saddle hackle jigs and also Marabou jigs. First, saddle hackle jigs. Let’s say we are tying a Gray Ghost. How long should the hackle tips be? Should the be the length of the entire jig, twice that length, etc? That is assuming that we are going to put the butts against the back of the jig head and start tying them in from that point. Then, how long should the V’s be?

Next, how long should the Marabou extend beyond the hook bend? Is there an easy way to measure that?

thanks

GF

I tie my tails sticking out at least 1/2 of the hook from the end. V's need to be about 2/3 the lengthy of the tail. Same with marabou.

A hackle tip on one of my jigs is about twice the length of the exposed portion of the hook. You’ll know when you look at it after capturing the butt section of what you’ve cut whether it’s looks right to you. Too long and you’ll get some short strikes, too short and the action isn’t the same. Skip has a video on cutting V’s that explains it all,mine are about 1/4” of feather shaft. Not all work good because of the length of the barbules. If they’re really long I make a jig with just the V’s, and they work great. As you tie and look at others jigs you’ll get a feel for the proportion.

I like mine about 1/2 to 3/4 longer than the bend of the hook on most jigs it gives me about 2 inches of total length for the jig but it all depends on how they want it that day sometimes the smaller jigs work better


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First of all the original Gray Ghost had not tip init and is tied with only the V's.

I use my vise for jig length and know where I want it to be. My longest jigs will be 2 1/2" - 2 3/4" long including the head. If it's a kip tail jig it's a good bit shorter probably about like my Crosscut rabbit strips on a 1/32 Oz Roadrunner and that is pretty short, about 1 3/4" long.

So it depends a lot of what I am tying as to how long they are.

The video Skeet mentioned is this one.
MOV04332 mpeg2video - YouTube

And a super short video of me tying a jig!
YouTube

Skip