tailer

One who follows or tails surreptitiously, as an investigator.

I had to concentrate on staying out of sight, yet close enough not to be stranded on the wrong side of a stoplight. I was working so hard at it that I didn't notice that the tailer had become the tailee.

When the car entered the traffic circle I followed after it, the tailed now tailing the tailer. The car's occupants, sure now that they'd been spotted, sped off ahead of me along Dodgers Hole Road.

A worker on a yacht, responsible for furling and setting the sails.

The next step was the invention of the self-tailing device, whereby the need for a tailer, holding the sheet or halyard while another person operated the winch, was eliminated.

A large noose with a long handle intended to secure a fish's tail.

A fish bottom-feeding in shallow water with its tail out of the water.