Scud, sowbug, & shrimp flies

Jdaddy, that's exactly where I got them. I bought 2 when they were on sale for $.50, figuring the trout probably won't care that the shrimp are "mating" and the pattern is probably no more or less effective than a regular shrimp or scud.

Seriously. Dubbing. Hook. Bead. Ribbing. All of those are not required sometimes, particularly in smaller sizes.
Click to expand...

I tied a bunch of flies like this with the psu FF club this past spring. I've had great results with them on a semi-limestoner near my house but put them aside in favor of ants and beetles before I tried them on any other streams. I'll be tying loads of them again this fall when I go back up there.

 
Just dub a bit of grey antron/hares dubbing on a size 16 or 18 weighted scud hook. It is a good representation of all the bugs you mentioned as well as caddis, cranefly larvae and a bunch of other aquatic stuff. It's a quick tie and a cheap but effective lead fly that works everywhere, not just spring creeks.
 
Scuds and Cress Bugs are often found in the same streams but not usually in the same stretches. As mentioned above, cress bugs like live in the poorer quality water such as below hatcheries, while scuds like cleaner and colder water. I see scuds alot more often than Cress Bugs. I use the simple patterns with just weighting wire and fur/sparkle dubbing blend. Scuds get a plastic bag back and rib. There seems to be some debate on whether scuds should be tied on straight or curved hooks. I like the look of curved but alot of guys swear by straight because scuds stretch out straight when they swim. Anybody have an opinion on this?
 
LongLineRelease wrote:
Scuds and Cress Bugs are often found in the same streams but not usually in the same stretches. As mentioned above, cress bugs like live in the poorer quality water such as below hatcheries, while scuds like cleaner and colder water. I see scuds alot more often than Cress Bugs. I use the simple patterns with just weighting wire and fur/sparkle dubbing blend. Scuds get a plastic bag back and rib. There seems to be some debate on whether scuds should be tied on straight or curved hooks. I like the look of curved but alot of guys swear by straight because scuds stretch out straight when they swim. Anybody have an opinion on this?
Click to expand...

A scud hook, having a curved shank will flip upside down when the shank is weighted with lead wire. When I tie my scuds on scud hooks, it tie them unweighted and add my weight to the tippet or fish it with a heavier anchor fly. If you weight them, I would use regular straight shank nymph or wet fly hook. HTH.
 
LongLineRelease wrote:
. There seems to be some debate on whether scuds should be tied on straight or curved hooks. I like the look of curved but alot of guys swear by straight because scuds stretch out straight when they swim. Anybody have an opinion on this?
Click to expand...

It doesn't seem to make any difference in my opinion. I generally tie my cress bugs on straight hooks and scuds on curved hooks. I don't weight my scuds for the reason Afish points out above. I also use scuds for sight fishing in weedy creeks and don't want 'em too heavy for that reason.
 
I've been told that scuds will curl up when spooked or tumbling in heavy current, so it may matter less than we think.

Or perhaps I am missing fish.

I do try to keep most of my flies looking the same from any direction to limit the effect of tumbling.
 
Curved, weighted, straight, slim, fat, green, gray or whatever I don't think it matters. I have tried like 100 scud and cressbug patterns gray fuzz out fishes them all for me.
 
RowJimmy wrote:
Curved, weighted, straight, slim, fat, green, gray or whatever I don't think it matters. I have tried like 100 scud and cressbug patterns gray fuzz out fishes them all for me.
Click to expand...

True that. I think we tend to over think things to a degree.
 
If any one has a good gray scud pattern though I'd be interested in hearing about it?
 
After this morning on Valley, I am a gray fuzz believer. Outfished my dad who was spinfishing. And this is after wasting the first hour with flies that were not gray fuzz.
 
The dryer lint collection:

Cress bug: Take some of those match book twist on weights and cut to size on the hook. Trim it into a nice cress bug shape, lash to the hook, and super glue it.

Dub with dryer lint, and pull a piece of plastic bag over the back. You can rib it, but I don't bother.

For the scud, do the same but just wrap it with lead instead of using the twist on. I usually rib the scud.

The dryer lint is a perfect color for it, at least if you own mostly jeans and dark tshirts.
 
The dryer lint collection: Cress bug: Take some of those match book twist on weights and cut to size on the hook. Trim it into a nice cress bug shape, lash to the hook, and super glue it. Dub with dryer lint, and pull a piece of plastic bag over the back. You can rib it, but I don't bother. For the scud, do the same but just wrap it with lead instead of using the twist on. I usually rib the scud. The dryer lint is a perfect color for it, at least if you own mostly jeans and dark tshirts.
Click to expand...

I really like this. Thanks!
 
RowJimmy wrote:
If any one has a good gray scud pattern though I'd be interested in hearing about it?
Click to expand...


Here's one for you...Tucker scud

Just sub gray ostrich for the tan. Looks cool, no?

Does it work any better than gray fuzz, dubbed and picked out under a strip of baggie, and ribbed with mono? Not that I've found.


 
Here's a brief article I wrote here on PAFF awhile ago featuring my favorite scud and how to tie and fish it (hackle tips are more durable than marabou but I like the movement that marabou provides):

http://www.paflyfish.com/smartsection.item.190/fly-of-the-month-david-weaver-039-s-quot-scud-quot.html

Regarding colors - I've spent some time eyeballing scuds and cress bugs, esp down here in the Cumberland Valley. The cress bugs tend more toward the grey color spectrum but their legs are very light so I usually darken the back of the cress bug with a grey marker and use white hackle for the legs. I'd guess that dryer lint would be a good approximation of the shell color on a lot of cressbugs.
For scuds, as can be seen in the above link, I usually stick with olive as this is the most consistent color range I see on scuds. Sometimes you'll see orange ones (scuds turn color when they die) and some FFers have great luck with this color, but I don't fish orange scuds very often. They seem to be more popular out West.
 
The jeans and t-shirt wardrobe isn't the problem... it's the washing part I have a hard time with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Montana Angler Fly Fishing
Harman's North Fork Cottages
Wayward Trading”/> </center> </div> </div> </div> <div class=


Real Time Data From
the USGS Site

Share this page

Back
Top