Not long after rediscovering fly fishing six years ago, I decided that my favorite places to fish are lakes and ponds. Where I live in Northeast California, we are fortunate to have a number of both small lakes and large reservoirs with public access that hold populations of rainbow and brown trout, with some having brookies, as well. Once I decided that still waters were where I wanted to put my effort and energy, it quickly became apparent that in addition to sinking lines, the flies I would need were for the most part quite different than those used in streams and rivers.
My research about stillwater flies led me to the Wiggle Tail fly developed by the late Jay Fair. Naturally, I had to learn how to tie and fish this fly, but, as I was soon to discover, that was not going to be a simple task.
One Fly, Many Looks
Apparently, no one — and I mean no one — ties the Wiggle Tail exactly the same way. How can that be? Well, for starters, the Wiggle Tail was designed as a “suggestive” or “attractor” fly pattern — that is, depending on how it is tied and in what color, it can suggest a wide variety of trout food, such as a damselfly nymph, leech, or baitfish. That’s why on Fly Fishing the Sierra, an internet resource, the Wiggle Tail is listed in both the “Bugger” and “Damselfly” pattern categories, while The Fly Shop in Redding places it in its catalog under “Freshwater Streamers and Leeches.”
What is suggestive and attractive can vary a lot. I’ve seen Wiggle Tails tied in various shades of olive, rust, brown, burnt orange, black, and white, and I’m sure it’s been tied in other colors as well. And shape can vary as much as color. Wiggle Tails have used at least ten different makes of hooks in three different styles: on scudstyle hooks by Daiichi (1120 and 1150) and Tiemco (2457 and 2487), on short-shank nymph-style hooks by Tiemco ( 2488 and 2499), and on longer-shank wet-fly-style hooks by Tiemco ( 3761 and 3769) and Daiichi (1520 and 1530). And of course, there are other manufacturers that produce similar hooks. Some tyers weight this fly heavily, others with just a touch of lead or lead-free wire, and some do not add any weight at all, depending on water depth, the depth at which the fish feed or are holding, and the desired action to be imparted to the fly. The one thing common to 99 percent of the Wiggle Tails I’ve seen is the thin, but fluffy marabou tail. However, I did come across a variation where the tyer used ostrich herl for the tail, claiming the ostrich provides “more wiggle than marabou.”
You’d think that finding out how Jay Fair himself tied the Wiggle Tail would resolve all these differences, but no. Two different sources highlight two different flies, with different hooks, one weighted, one unweighted, and with different body materials, one hackled, the other not. The only common denominator seems to be the marabou tail. In his DVD J. Fair’s No Nonsense Flies: Volume 1, Jay Fair calls this fly a “Wiggly Tail” and demonstrates tying it on a Daiichi 1150 hook in size 10 with no added weight. For the body of the fly, he uses his proprietary “J. Fair Short Shuck” and palmer-wraps a grizzly schlappen hackle feather over the top of the shuck material. The key component, he stresses, is the tail, which is of soft marabou, each strand carefully selected for its high percentage of fluffy barbules, which are located at about midlength on the feather, not at the spiky tips. The thin (12 to 20 strands), fluffy marabou tail — an inch to an inch and a quarter long — is designed to “produce the most action with the least amount of movement,” he says on the video.
But then there is a different version of the Wiggle Tail in a short YouTube video produced by Jay Fair’s late son, Glenn, titled “How to Tie a Jay Fair Translucent Wiggle Tail Fly.” In the video, this fly is tied using what looks like a standard wet-fly hook such as a Daiichi 1550 or a Tiemco 3761 with 10 wraps of lead wire (either .015-inch or .020-inch) applied to the middle of the hook, and the marabou tail is an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half long. For the body of the fly, Glenn Fair uses J. Fair’s synthetic “Micro Translucent Swimming Hackle” wrapped forward from the tail, over the lead, and to the eye of the hook, and there is no additional hackle palmered over the main body.
There are other ways to tie this fly as well. Instead of the J. Fair body materials, “Short Shuck” and “Micro Translucent Swimming Hackle,” some tyers use dubbing material for the body of the fly.
Interpretations by Stillwater Experts
There may be lots of different ways to tie the Wiggle Tail, but what is the best way? That’s sort of like asking “What is the best recipe for spaghetti sauce?” The answer in both cases depends on what it will be used for. There may be some common ingredients — a marabou tail and some kind of body material are the tomatoes and olive oil of the Wiggly Tail Fly — but what does or doesn’t get added (hackle and weight are the garlic and meat in this recipe) depends on how it’s going to be served. That’s what I learned when I asked some top California stillwater fly fisher experts how they tie their Wiggle Tails and why they do what they do.
Mark Antaramian, of Mark Antaramian Guide Service, Chester, California: “ I do not use hackle, because as it gives too large a profile for the lakes I fish. However, adding hackle can give this fly more action, so it pays to experiment on the waters you fish. I use a straight-eyed scud hook, and my favorite is the Firehole 317 in size 12 tied with UTC thread in size 70. I weight this fly only if fishing 10 feet deep or deeper or if I want a more aggressive flick of the tail. For weight, I’ve typically used a 3-millimeter brass bead, but I used tungsten this year to get a little more action. I like to use different weights depending on how much action I want and depth I’m fishing. For the tail, I use 12 strands of bloodquill marabou with a 2.5-inch quill. Flash is optional; just three strands of Angel Hair. I dub the body using Wapsi SLF Squirrel Dubbing, ribbed with five turns of BR size Ultra Wire. Sometimes I add some CDC at the head of the fly for more action.”
Lance Gray, professional guide, Lance Gray and Company, Willows, California: “Over the years, I have had many conversations with Jay about his Wiggle Tail fly. When I first started to guide, Jay took me under is wing and taught me a huge amount of stillwater knowledge that I still use today. Many times while guiding or fishing, I ask myself ‘What would Jay do?’ Then I do it. And it works! What a great man!
“However, my Wiggle Tails, like many of my patterns, have been tweaked. I tie two different styles of Wiggle Tails. The first is tied sparse. This is the fly that I use for damselfly nymphs and small leeches. I usually tie them on a TMC 2488H size 12 hook. This hook has a slight bend and a ring eye, which I prefer on flies I strip. I usually don’t add weight to this Wiggle Tail. For the tail, like Jay, I use marabou fibers from the middle of the feather. I don’t like the blunt ends or the pointy ends of the marabou for this fly. I tie the tail just an inch long. I have found that longer tails get grabbed, rather than the hook. I then tie on J. Fair Short Shuck for the body. No hackle on this guy. I don’t trim the Short Shuck. I just fish it this way.
“For my other Wiggle Tail, I use the same hook in size 10, but this guy is for my dragonfly nymphs. I weight this guy heavily, with 020-inch lead wire, and add black bead chain eyes at the front to invert the fly. The tail consists of heavy, blunt-ended marabou fibers from the bottom of the feather, tied full, not sparse. I then use J. Fair’s Long Shuck for the body with a matching hackle rib. This fly needs to show a larger profile and stay down deep. “In everything I tie I hear Jay’s words talking to me: ‘Make it swim like the natural; match what the natural does.’ The Wiggle Tail does that. It’s a fantastic fly!”
Lincoln Gray, manager, Sierra Stream and Mountain and owner, Lincoln Gray’s Fly Fishing Adventures, Chico, California: “I tie the Wiggle Tail just like Jay did originally, except that I reverse-palmer the hackle, the same as I do on my TS Buggers — tied in by the butt of the feather near the eye, wound back in evenly spaced turns to the tail, then secured by winding a wire rib forward through the hackle to the eye.
“While Jay liked the Daiichi 1150 hook, I use a Tiemco 2457. As for the tail, sometimes I’ll tie it less than a half inch in length, and sometimes add two strands of pearl Flashabou. I also try to tie this pattern, like all my flies, sparsely. I do not like heavily dressed flies.
“Jay taught us to retrieve this fly with slow, short strips, with one or two long strips mixed in, pausing to let the fly drop. On many occasions, trout would take the fly on the drop.”
Ray Narbaitz, “Fly of the Month” columnist, Chico Area Fly Fishers, former industry sales rep with Umpqua Feather Merchants: “ I tie my Wiggle Tails pretty much in line with the original. For hooks, I usually use a Tiemco 2499s or 2488s. I like the shorter shank, which allows me to tie them in bigger sizes with a proportionately sized body and bigger gap for better hooking ability.
“I usually use six or seven wraps of .015-inch lead right in the middle of the hook shank, because I want this fly to sink slowly and move up and down as I manipulate it, but not with the head-first jigging action of most Bugger-style flies. I stay with the J. Fair Short Shuck for most of my bodies, although I always tie some with dubbed bodies of hare’s ear or Hare-Tron, because on bright days, I think the Short Shuck is a little too flashy.
“Like Jay, I tie these with marabou that is as thick and fluffy as I can get it. If you can find it, ‘Woolly Bugger Marabou’ is the best, because it is full right down to the tips. You don’t want to use marabou that has those skinny, wispy tips. I also tend to use fairly short hackle on the body. I want it to be only a tiny bit longer than the Short Shuck. The tail provides more than enough movement, and all I want the hackle to do is move a little water. My favorite colors are cinnamon and olive, but I also tie some in black.”
Zack Thurman, retail and inventory manager, The Fly Shop, Redding, California: “There are many versions of the Wiggle Tail, and all the versions I tie have their place and time and have produced for me on many of the lakes I have fished in the western United States. I prefer to tie mine on a Tiemco 3769 or Daiichi 1530 hook, instead of the Tiemco 2457 or Daiichi 1120. I know Jay’s reasoning for using a scud hook (the tail is less likely to wrap around the bend of the hook), but I just have more confidence in the straight-shank hook.
“Like Jay, I prefer a longer tail using marabou plumes, and I wrap the body with Short Shuck. Going on a tip from Jay, I tried tying these without hackle and have had excellent results with this version. Depending on the situation, I tie these either weighted or unweighted. The weighted version usually has four to six wraps of .015-inch lead wire toward the eye of the hook, or I tie them with a tungsten bead for use under an indicator, much like a Balanced Leech.”
One Fly for Many Conditions
Designed by the tremendously respected Jay Fair, a California fly-fishing icon, the Wiggle Tail is a fly pattern that can provide some fantastic lake and pond fishing, because depending on how it is tied, it addresses all sorts of variables that stillwater fly anglers encounter on a regular basis: water depth, clarity, temperature, the food sources available to stillwater trout at any given time, and more. Tie it in a bunch of different colors in the variety of ways discussed above and stuff a fly box full. Stillwater success is sure to follow.
Ray Narbaitz Recalls Fishing with Jay Fair
Jay was a client of mine when I was a rep with Umpqua Feather Merchants, and he became a good friend. I was fortunate to have been able to fish with him a number of times, mostly at Eagle Lake. He was hands down the best stillwater fly fisherman I have ever seen. His ability to see the most subtle of strikes was almost Zen-like.
Jay always said that the vast majority of people fish his fly too quickly. He used a pretty slow handtwist retrieve that he called “mooching.” He would say, “See, I just mooch it along like this” and would seldom, if ever, feel the take. Instead, he’d notice that something would happen with the line, visually indicating a take, and he’d set up on a fish. Every once in a while, if everything aligned perfectly, I would see it happen, too, but not very often.
Jay Fair was a true gentleman in every sense of the word. The world and fly fishing are a little poorer with him gone.
— Ray Narbaitz
