I just made my first hackle tailed jig and I'm not sure what's the best way to cut the tail? I'll attach a photo of the jig I tied and let me know if I'm doing it wrong or if there is a better way?

The tip that is missing from your feather, is the part that is (normally) used to tie a feather jig.

So I tied it backwards? Thanks for the help!

Looks like from the photos I've found I shouldn't have cut the tip

I have seen other people tie jigs using feathers the way you did, in the pic above. The split feather looks like a minnow tail. They WILL catch fish, they just don't look like a "classic" feather jig.

Most jigs are made, using just the tips of a hackle feather. The rest of the feather is just thrown away (or saved/used for accent coloring).

This is why I love TFF! Thanks for the help! Going to GV at lunch, so we'll see if they like it.

Measure and cut the tip of the feather to the length that you want. Then cut a couple .5-1" sections out of the remainder of the feather and stack them on top of the tip section and tie them all in. Adds some bulk to the tail, but doesn't extend far enough back to interfere with the look of the feather tip.

Tx is referring to the "V's" stacked along with the tip to add bulk to the tail, primarily at the base. You want the tip alone at the "wiggle" end of the jig as it looks like a "stinger" when wet and the base will "puff" up some when jigged. Skip has the best video on the "V's"...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oz0_yvw1MCI
I also have a short video on my web site that shows the "stack" in nurse to make the tail.
http://handtiedcrappiejigs.com/category/learn-how-to-handtie-jigs/

That jig will catch fish! But, as the others said, the tip of the hackle feather is used on a traditional jig. I use schalppen feathers, but instead of cutting "V's", I just peel the barbs off the quill, trim, and tie in. It's faster for me. Hackle is better suited for using the tip. One or two tips will do. Don't be afraid to mix colors!

Tied this after the tips I got. Still not exactly how I want it but the last one got me 3 fish on the dock! Need to put in a order to zuma, I'm running out of hooks!

Looks good!

+1

Here is some info from a post I made elsewhere, but think maybe it will help.
http://www.crappie.com/crappie/jig-tying...-cutting-video/

This should help!

Skip

If you are ever in Lewisville area, hit me up and I will show you what I have learned. My jigs are not as nice as some of the tyers on here but they look good to me and catch plenty of fish.

Hanging these 5ft trees tomorrow and building one 10ft but I didn't buy enough PVC . Going to hang one 5ft starting at 5ft, the other starting at 8ft. The 10ft I'm going to lay horizontally @ 15ft. Here crappie crappie