Oh Think I am beginning to hate tying Kip Tail!

I don't know what else to try, but this stuff just takes so long to tie. I am use to tying much faster, but every time I have to tie a bunch of Kip Tail I am so slow it just makes me angry! I always tie it in and then cut the excess with a razor blade then finish tying it and that cutting the ends sticking out passed the thread on the head side just takes time! How about you guys? Any of you have some special trick to speed that up? I am even thinking of giving up tying Kip tail for anyone other than my self.

yeah skip, it takes me more time also, but I never tie more than a dozen at a time then I walk away from it for a while.

After I get the thread wrapped around the hook, I get the hair ready and then when you go to tie it in leave about a bodkin wire thickness between the base of the jighead and where you tie in. I know when your done you have to fill this space in but it works good and if you cut the ends flat you shouldn't have any loose hairs to trim.

I would, but every time one of the guys that like them places an order it's for dozens and dozens of the darn thing and before I am done I am ready to just quit, LOL! All the way through this order of just 7 dozen I have been tempted to tell them no more, this is the last order I take for these darn things, LOL!

Hit the road Jack, Skip don't tie no kip no more,no more ,no more, no more. Hit the road Jack. Skip don't tie no Kip !!
Might try a stacker. The tie down part that sticks out is what I always hated. Trimming those little hairs sticking out is tedious. Very sharp scissors helped me also. The cut at the tail is where the problem starts!

Yeah what I really hate is if I try to make it so no trimming is needed I seem to always get a space between the hair and the head which when I tighten it down good and the hair squirts out the back and ruins the whole thing so have to start over.

I like kip, to me it's much easier to mess with than bou. I make sure the length is about right before I ever tie it in. If I have to trim some out of the way past the thread, its usually just a few. Takes me probably 3 mins to tie a jig usually unless I use two kip colors. I've decided my best purchase has been Dr. Slicks bent tip hair scissors though!

Well my easiest jigs that I tie, would be at a rate of something between 25 and 30 per hour and at times a bit more, but with Kip tail that is not happening ever. I know how good it is to fish with, but darn I like marabou a lot more than Kip and hackle is by far the one I like tying more than any. I tie them all, but seem to always get a bit frustrated when I tie Kip tail. I am pretty sure I have said something like this before on this board when I had several large orders of these. I still do them, but much prefer all the others I tie. Just needed a vent and glad I am done with that order, LOL!

Hey Skip, Just goes to show your human....We all need to vent about something sometime or other....That's what friends are for...

Skip you just answerd my question yesterday. Thanks Gary

I'm with you Skip! A friend gave me a little blue kip & asked me to tie a few a certain way so I said sure. I don't think it's so much the kip as it is any loose hair. I just have better success with zonker & crosscut strips. Here's 2 I tied but I'm not too impressed with the look.
http://i598.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps9a8fef57.jpg

I don't mind kiptail much... that's mostly what I the but I only do like 10 a time I'm sure if I did a bunch it would be annoying... I absolutely despise craft fur I hate tying that stuff...

Thanks skip for the post!!! The reason I joined Crappie.com is because I wanted a quality Crappie jig.Where we live you can't go to Wal-mart and by the type,size or quality Crappie jig that we need to catch fish!! A good Quality Crappie jig takes time.Because of Great Jig Makers as your self and others on crappie.com sets the mark for the Rest of us( wanttobe) jig tyers!!! Quality baits as with anything takes time.We have a regular job my hobby/break from work is crappie fishing and making,tying the Jigs and baits needed for catching crappie!!!! Thanks again (Skip)Thanks for the Posts!!!

Your welcome Jackie, I know that the kip tail stuff really works and works well. I remember the first time I found that out. Guys got me to get a mold made for a special head they had and then when I got my first 2 samples back I tied them up and took one, tied it on with a small cork above it and went down to my bank. I plopped that thing down just a few feet from me next to the bank. Nothing happened so I pulled it out and as I did I saw a gold color flash under it so I dropped it back in. About 15 minutes later I had 4 with the smallest at 14". It wouldn't have taken that long but I had to go get something to put the first one in before I could continue. After that I understood why they wanted these little jigs.

This is is maybe the best hobby one could get into!

Can we see a finished pic of all the kiptail jigs sometimes I don't see how you tye so many lol...

Sure, here is the one I just finished today.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...ps232ad567.jpg

Then one more from earlier this year and there has been a good many.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b4...s/DSC07756.jpg

Skip I like doing Kip but it is a winter type pattern for me. I don't tie as many or a much as you but I cut my teeth on Bucktail. Just be glad that you are not tying Musky in line spinner baits. I know from experience that is the absolute worst lure that you can ever tie. Guess one of the reasons that I don't mind the kip tail jigs.
Vent all you want we are here to listen.

Redman

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Originally Posted by Redman

Skip I like doing Kip but it is a winter type pattern for me. I don't tie as many or a much as you but I cut my teeth on Bucktail. Just be glad that you are not tying Musky in line spinner baits. I know from experience that is the absolute worst lure that you can ever tie. Guess one of the reasons that I don't mind the kip tail jigs.
Vent all you want we are here to listen.

Redman

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Well let me tell you a little story about Bucktail that ate my lunch. Had someone ask if I would tie some jigs using Bucktail on some 3/8 and 1/2 oz walleye jigs that ended up being something like 184 of them. Thought I would never finish them and so misjudged how much Bucktail it would take. I have tied a lot of small Bucktail jigs for crappie! but never big jigs like these were. Took me a lot longer than I ever thought it would, day after day after day!
still all and all I kind of ended enjoying it in the end because it was different and I learned some things! So I think maybe that was some what like your big inline spinners.

The musky baits were tied using kiptail?

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Originally Posted by VaCrappieMan

The musky baits were tied using kiptail?

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No these we are talking about moved to Bucktail for the large jigs. Read the post again from Redman and my self, when we talked about the big jigs and inline spinners it was Bucktail.

Oh gotcha... Bucktail is a pain too... Lol

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Originally Posted by VaCrappieMan

Oh gotcha... Bucktail is a pain too... Lol

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Yes, but not so bad on small crappie jigs, but the bigger they get the worse it is.

I'm with you skip. I tied over a hundred bucktails for a guy, and they have to be done the same way. Then he squeeked on the price. I let him have them and sold the molds. Problem solved. Like you say, not too many and just for me. And vent anytime, it's all good with us.

Back when I tied commercially Bucktail was 80% of my business. 3/8, 1/4, and 1/8 oz walleye jigs all bucktail. The perch jigs were done with hackle and were a lot like crappie jigs but back then we did about 8 patterns. We tied from 2/0 hooks down to a 10. 3/8 oz. was the biggest and 1/100 oz. the smallest bluegill bug. Tied and sold thousands. Never want to do that again. A young mans game so do it while you are young it will get you when you are a old geezer like me. Long hours and it does gets boring. Now I do it for fun and that's the way I look at it as fun. Glad that those days are behind me. Wouldn't take a million dollars for the experience and wouldn't pay a dollar to do it again.

Redman

Here's how I do it for thread neck kiptails. It's fast, there are no hairs sticking out under the collar to trim and the hair will never ever pull out.

1.) Grab a clump of hair that's about half the size of the amount you want to use and pull the hair until it's at a 90 degree angle from the base.

2.) Twist the tail around once or twice so the clump of hair is in a tight coil and clip it as close to the skin as possible. This way the ends are in a nice tapered shape and the butts are nearly even so you don't need to use a hair stacker.

3. ) Measure the hair against the hook shank and trim the butts if necessary so it's a little longer than the length you want. Stroke the butt end of the clump once or twice to remove any loose short hairs.

4.) Reverse the clump so you're holding onto it by the butts. Hold the clump next to the shank so the ends are over the head.

5.) Throw a couple of loose wraps around the clump and tug on the hair until the butt ends are under the part where you estimate the thread neck will end.

6.) Throw some tight wraps and hit them with head cement or superglue.

7.) Double the ends over and wrap your thread neck over them as normal.

8.) Flip the jig over and repeat the process with another clump on the top. If you're tying sparse, you could skip this step and do it all in one clump.

Interesting and will have to try that, but have to ask why glu at that step since it will not dry or set up until after step 2 is probably done? Maybe I am putting too much hair, but I always have trimming because I have found if I try to tie it in so there is no trimming it will squirt out when pulling tight.

i meant to also add I don't use a hair stacker with Kip.

Gluing the butts is just extra insurance in case the butts aren't completely even. I use thin glue, so it penetrates well and sets up quickly. I've forgotten the glue a few times and it never seemed to make a difference in the end product.

I tell you, once you've finished the jig, it will have a nice neat neck and never fall apart on you. The hairs will break before they come out.

The technique works great for squirrel tail too, though I always tie those with chenille