Fly of the Month

January 2000

by Rich Johnson

Scud

Scuds are actually a freshwater crustacean, like a shrimp. They come in a range of sizes and colors. I prefer to used mixed color dubbing instead of a single color. The scuds I’ve observed locally range from an pinkish/orange/tan to a grayish green. Amusing to watch, scuds will swim forward or dart backwards, and often swim on their sides or upside down, and rarely in a very straight line.

Previous Flies
December 1999: Sockeye Fry
November 1999: Not available
October 1999: Pin Head Muddler
September 1999: Signal Light
August 1999: Pink Pollywog
July 1999 : Leonard Shrimp
June 1999 : Delong Lake Special (parachute)
May 1999 : Beady-eye Nymph
April 1999 : General Practitioner
March 1999 : Sculpin (woolhead bunny)
February 1999 : Popsicle
January 1999 : Nuclic Bunny
December 1998: Alaska Mary Ann
November 1998: Niukluk Smolt
October 1998: Sea Flea
September 1998: Frank's Fly
August 1998: Sparkle Shrimp
July 1998: Flashfly
June 1998: Comet
May 1998: Everglow
April 1998: Battle Creek Special
March 1998: Pearl Marabou Smolt
February 1998: Crystal Egg Wooly Bugger
January 1998 : Tangle Lakes Teaser
December 1997: Bead-Head Pheasant Tail Soft Hackle


January 2000 by Rich Johnson Scud Scuds are actually a freshwater crustacean, like a shrimp. They come in a range of sizes and colors. I prefer to used mixed color dubbing instead of a single color. The scuds I’ve observed locally range from an pinkish/orange/tan to a grayish green. Amusing to watch, scuds will swim forward or dart backwards, and often swim on their sides or upside down, and rarely in a very straight line.
	Hook: Curved shank (scud/pupa/sedge/egg hook) Thread: White 6/0 Shell Back: Clear plastic strip Rib: Oval tinsel, fine, gold Legs: Neck hackle, cree Body: Dubbed fur, mixed colors to match naturals
	1) Wrap a thread base from behind the eye to well back on the shank.The curved shanked hooks (a Partridge K2B shown here) do not have a definite beginning of the hook bend, so you have to visualize a spot above the point of the barb that if materials were to be wrapped any lower the hooking ability of the fly would be compromised.
	2) Cut a strip of heavy plastic; I often use bags my tying materials come in. The strip should be wide enough to cover the top half of the finished dubbed body, and tapered on one end as shown to help the tie in procedure.
	3) Tie down the plastic by placing a loose wrap around the tapered strip and as you tighten down force the plastic to wrap around the hook shank, not just bunch up on top. place each successive wrap forward until the strip is secure.
	4) Find a neck hackle with a fair amount of web, the hackle fibers should be as long as the gape between the highest point of the shank and the hook point. Tie in by it’s tip using wraps to the rear.
	5) Tie in your tinsel rib on the far side of the hook. (Shown here on a rotating vise.) This is important as you are going to want the rib to start from underneath the shell back on the final step. Leave your thread forward of the end of the body.
	6) Because I want to have a shaggy body on this pattern, I am going to use a loop dubbing technique. To begin, take your mixed dubbing and apply it thickly onto your thread. I attempt to keep the dubbing as dense as possible during this step, twisting tightly as a apply the dubbing.
	7) Place your thread in a dubbing twister below your dubbing and bring your thread back up along side of the dubbed fur. Place two wraps of thread in front of the thread with dubbing on it before wrapping to the rear. It is important that both the thread coming off the hook which holds the dubbing, and the thread that came back up from the dubbing twister are tied down on the hook at the same point. Bring your thread forward to just behind the eye. At this time spin the heck out of the dubbing loop, creating a tightly twisted fur chenille.
	8) Wrap the fur chenille forward creating a thick body with only a short taper at either end. Tie off and cut the excess. (note: If you underestimate the amount of dubbing you need, you can always create another loop and add on what you need.)
	9) Using a dubbing brush, such as this Velcro loop on a stick tool, to shag out the dubbed body. Concentrate your efforts on the sides and bottom and not the top.
	10) Palmer the hackle through the body, tying off just behind the eye. Use your brush again to comb the hackle fibers and dubbing down off the top and towards the bottom of the fly.
	11) Bring the shell back forward over the top of the fly. You should use just enough tension over the top to keep the strip from having any gapes. Too much tension will stretch the plastic and make it more susceptible to damage by fish teeth. Tie off and trim the excess plastic. (note: If you determine that your strip is too wide, carefully trim each side to an acceptable width. The strip should be just wide enough to come down just a little on each side of the fly.)
	12) Bring the rib forward in open turns. Make sure to keep the shell back in place during this step. Use your left hand to hold the shell back while applying tension only on the downward portion of each wrap. Tie off and trim the rib. Whip finish and seal the wraps.