Cress Bug Fly Patterns

[goose54cdd]

Is there a link to patterns accumulated on paflyfish? Just curious to see what others tie for here in PA. Thanks

 

[dudemanspecial]

Ill try to remember to take a picture of mine when I get home, but all I do is dub wapsi sow scud dubbing in sow bug color on a hook like a walts worm, then put a strip of UV resin down the middle to give it a flat shape. Super easy and they catch fish.

 

[Nocktavius]

Tie the worst looking sloppiest Walt’s/hares ear you can imagine- that’s your cress bug

 

[StreamBottom]

dubbing fly!

 

[JeffK]

I don't know if the material is available any more, but a cream or gray Honey Bug worked well for me in the past. Gray seemed to work better, but I could see cream better to check how my drifts were going. Most days getting a better drift beat more natural color. Also used cream Honey Bug as an indicator pattern for a tiny midge. Couldn't see midge, but when cream dot moved it was time to strike. Another quick one is gray ostrich herl around a hook.

Most cress bug patterns seem to be some sort of grayish, maybe translucent coarse dubbing on a hook, sometimes with a ribbing that adds appearance of segments/legs. Older patterns use muskrat fur. I go back and forth about whether to trim them flat or not. There is the "tie in the round" theory that flat patterns tumble in the current which makes them look thin and fat in way that doesn't look like a living, swimming critter. Something round always looks the same no matter how it rotates. Joe Bates promoted tying stonefly nymphs in the round rather than flat. But a flat cress bug looks better sometimes.

I don't think you need anything fancy for a cress bug. Try a few, find a confidence pattern and keep fishing.

 

[TheDuke44]

Tie the worst looking sloppiest Walt’s/hares ear you can imagine- that’s your cress bug

^THIS.

If you're targeting super picky fish, add UV Resin or a thin strip of ZipLoc bag along the back and you've got a damn good looking scud pattern.

 

[lars]

i don't fish any waters with cress bugs, but if i did i think i'd try Ed Shenk's version.

 

[shakey]

I tie them with sow scud and a pheasant tail back,ostrich herl with a raffia back,usually with a copper rib, and sometimes in the round as a soft hackle

 

[salmo]

Nobody suggested the Joe Humphries pattern?

 

[dudemanspecial]

Nobody suggested the Joe Humphries pattern?

It is essentially the same thing everyone here posted (a rough walts worm) using muskrat / fox fur with grizzly hackle palmered on it. I have tied a few and personally think the hackle is unnecessary, but it's a good pattern regardless.

 

[Jay_H]

 

[salmo]

View attachment 1641252971

Please give me the recipe.

 

[Bamboozle]

Unless the nomenclature has changed to include all underwater bug-like crustacians, I think some folks are confusing scuds with cress bugs or vice versa...

They are two different critters, they don't always coexist and can (should) be fished differently.

A cress bug; is a flat crawling crustacean that looks like a slightly longer underwater version of a sow bug. All of my imitations are tied on straight shanked hooks and the finished fly is FLAT top & bottom with no carapace or shell back..

Way back when, I created an incredibly lifelike cress big pattern using Fly-Rite Poly II Dubbing Sheet material for the flat body with hackle for legs. I even showed some to Charlie Fox for his approval, but they were so light they needed split shot to get down which caused all sorts of issues with the weeds at the Letort.

I switched to Ed Shenk's version which is easier to tie and sinks better because of its bulk so I get good driftts in the weed channels.

Scuds are curved bodied shrimp-like crustaceans that swim. All my imitations have a rounded body tied on heavy curved shank hooks with dubbing fibers teased out below to represent legs. A strip of plastic bag or some appropriate colored Antron yarn pulled across the top represents the carapace or shell back.

I will sometimes also rib my scud imitations with thread or VERY fine wire.

Because scuds swim, depending of the circumstances when fishing one, I will twitch or even swim them past rooting fish. Scuds are also more prevalent than cress bugs so IF you can grab a clump of weeds from the stream and only see scuds...

Fish a scud pattern...

 

[sandflyx]

I don't know if the material is available any more, but a cream or gray Honey Bug worked well for me in the past. Gray seemed to work better, but I could see cream better to check how my drifts were going. Most days getting a better drift beat more natural color. Also used cream Honey Bug as an indicator pattern for a tiny midge. Couldn't see midge, but when cream dot moved it was time to strike. Another quick one is gray ostrich herl around a hook.

Most cress bug patterns seem to be some sort of grayish, maybe translucent coarse dubbing on a hook, sometimes with a ribbing that adds appearance of segments/legs. Older patterns use muskrat fur. I go back and forth about whether to trim them flat or not. There is the "tie in the round" theory that flat patterns tumble in the current which makes them look thin and fat in way that doesn't look like a living, swimming critter. Something round always looks the same no matter how it rotates. Joe Bates promoted tying stonefly nymphs in the round rather than flat. But a flat cress bug looks better sometimes.

I don't think you need anything fancy for a cress bug. Try a few, find a confidence pattern and keep fishing.

no honey bug anymore. I still have some and use it sparingly.

 

[Jay_H]

Please give me the recipe.

60% SLF Squirrel dubbing
40% Muskrat dubbing
For the back I use a single strand of black spanflex
Tied on 14-16 straight nymph hooks

For the olive variation I use olive sow-scud dubbing with a touch of muskrat dubbing

 

[tomgamber]

Buggy leach yarn, a zip lock on a pupa hook. I'm a cheapskate.

 

[wgmiller]

 

[salmo]

View attachment 1641252971

They look yummie!

 

[salmo]

60% SLF Squirrel dubbing
40% Muskrat dubbing
For the back I use a single strand of black spanflex
Tied on 14-16 straight nymph hooks

For the olive variation I use olive sow-scud dubbing with a touch of muskrat dubbing

Thanks. Do you ever coat the back with Solarez or similar?

 

[Jay_H]

Thanks. Do you ever coat the back with Solarez or similar?

I have used both Solarez and Loon UV Flow for the back (usually with scud back). It’s not my favorite to be honest.

I really like twisting Swiss Straw or cutting it in half and using that for the top side.