Scuds - weighted or unweighted?

[dubthethorax]

Thoughts?

 

[SBecker]

I seem to use cress/sow bugs more then I use scuds. Not sure why, but they seem more productive for me. I weight both with a couple wraps of lead, but that's it.

 

[Fishidiot]

I fish a lot of scuds and cress bugs but use them almost entirely in shallow limestoners with gentle current and lots of weeds. As such, I don't like a heavy fly as it just gets junked up in the weeds. I'll use a small spit shot fairly often but, if sight fishing, prefer to have no weight.
Nothing hard and fast but this how I usually play this game.

 

[afishinado]

I tie scuds without any weight added to the hook. A curved scud hook flips the fly upside down (hook point up) when weight is added - not a good thing, IMO. When I need to, I add some weight to the tippet, usually tung putty, to get my fly down.

I usually add some weight to my cress bug patterns. I use a regular nymph hook and tie in a length of wire on each side of the hook shank to give the fly that flattened, oval shape of a cress bug.

 

[sandfly]

both, depends on the streams level....

 

[trowpa]

afishinado wrote:
I tie scuds without any weight added to the hook. A curved scud hook flips the fly upside down (hook point up) when weight is added - not a good thing, IMO.

Afish - I'm curious why you feel an upside down hook a bad thing. Can you elaborate?

I tie some of my nymphs this way purposefully - snags less and keeps the hook from dulling so quickly by hitting rocks.

Scuds get tossed and turned like anything else in the current - what do i care if they drift upside down or not...am i missing something?

 

[tracker12]

I have gone both ways but have lately moved away from weighting my cressbugs. I spent some time watching them tumble down the stream on Spring Creek one afternoon as I scrapped them off of rocks. I think unweighted will be more natural.

 

[flyfishermanj]

keeps the hook from dulling so quickly by hitting rocks.

I'm impressed, never had one on long enough to dull the hook!!

JH

 

[MKern]

As much weight as I can without altering the look of the fly.

So like 8-10 wraps of .15 wire.

 

[blackandgold4ever05]

I tie them without weight and use shot on my tippet. I feel it might drift more natural and help from getting it so junked up with vegetation.

 

[afishinado]

trowpa wrote:

afishinado wrote:
I tie scuds without any weight added to the hook. A curved scud hook flips the fly upside down (hook point up) when weight is added - not a good thing, IMO.

Afish - I'm curious why you feel an upside down hook a bad thing. Can you elaborate?

I tie some of my nymphs this way purposefully - snags less and keeps the hook from dulling so quickly by hitting rocks.

Scuds get tossed and turned like anything else in the current - what do i care if they drift upside down or not...am i missing something?

I tie many of my nymphs with a weighted scud hook to ride hook point up - it works great and I catch a lot of fish with them.

The question was about scuds. They are good swimmers and I've often seen them ride in the current in a upright C position. Also, as FishIdiot wrote in an earlier post, weedy spring creeks, where they are found, often make unweighted flies are better choice. If I need to sink them a bit, I add a tiny bit of tung putty to the tippet. It works well for me.

I fished with FishIdiot a few weeks ago and caught this one (below) on a an unweighted scud. I spotted the fish and he had his nose in the cress. I was able to cast right into it with the unweighted fly and it drifted right past his nose when took it. A weighted fly would have snagged in the weeds.

 

[mcwillja]

I tie both weighted and unweighted. Depends what the situation calls for. Just like any other nymph it depends on the water conditions you are fishing in. You could also fish a tandem with an anchor scud that is weighted and an unweighted dropper.

 

[just_jon]

I fish both cress bugs and scuds with a single small shot. i believe the presentaion is more natural. Mostly, I fish the cress bug as the lead fly with the scud trailing.