Fly of the Month Bob Ireton brings together his experience in fly fishing, aquatic entomology, and knowledge of fly tying techniques and materials, to design and tie durable and effective flies.

   Volume 5,  Issue 3                                                                  March 2004

TAILWATER SCUD
Fly, Text, and Photography by Bob Ireton

Scuds are aquatic crustaceans that live in and on aquatic vegetation in nearly every lake, pond, and moving waters slow enough to allow vegetation to take root. Scuds often reach dense populations in spring creeks and tailwaters. Because they have no set mating and emergence period, scuds are in the water, at mature size, at all times of the year. Fish eat them regularly.

Scuds will usually be the color of the vegetation that they are on, such as tan, gray, olive, etc. An exception to this guideline is when the scuds are left out of water and die, like in a tailwater. When generation stops and the water level quickly drops, the scuds are trapped on exposed vegetation, rocks, and gravel. When scuds die, they turn orange. When generation resumes, and the water level rises, the dead scuds are washed into the water. This is the time to tie on a 'Tailwater Scud'!

MATERIALS

Hook - Mustad 37160, 80200BR, or 80250BR; TMC 2457, 2487; Daiichi 1120, 1130, or 1150,
or any heavy hook with a curved shank.
Size - 14-20
Thread (underbody) - UNI 3/0, any color.
Weight - .025 lead, or lead free wire.
Thread (Working) - UNI 6/0 or 8/0, orange.
Rib - Small gold oval tinsel.
Body - Whitlock's SLF Dubbing Blends - Scud & Shrimp Orange/Pink.
Shellback - SOFTEX Clear Flexible Coating

TYING STEPS -  click on pictures for larger view

1 - Some of these hooks have a real anchor of a barb, so I urge you to roll the barb over. Also, the shape of most of these hooks make a size 18 appear to be a size 16. With this in mind, place the hook correctly in the vice. I am using a size 14 Mustad 37160 for this example. Attach the 3/0 thread behind the hook eye, and lay on a nice thread base. Stop at a point on the shank that is in a horizontal plane with the hook eye. Tie a half hitch.
2 - Put about a dozen wraps of weight in the mid section of the hook shank.
3 – Since the 3/0 thread is heavier, it makes short work of covering the lead weight, and building a ramp on each end of the lead wraps. Finish off with a whip finish, then snip and remove the 3/0 thread.
4 - With a pair of smooth, flat jaw pliers, flatten out vertically the thread-covered weight. This gives the nice body shape. Cover the thread and weight with a good coat of Dave's Flexament.
5 - Attach the 6/0 or 8/0 working thread, and tie in the ribbing at the aft end of the fly. Tie a half hitch.
6 - Form a dubbing loop, then bring the working thread forward to behind the hook eye, and tie a half hitch. Place some dubbing evenly in the loop.
7 - After you have the dubbing in the thread of the loop, spin the loop to lock in the dubbing. Now palmer the completed dubbing loop forward, and stop just behind the hook eye. Tie off the dubbing loop, bring the thread to the front of the loop, and tie a couple of half hitches behind the hook eye.
8 - Snip off any extra dubbing loop. Using curved blade scissors, give the top and sides a good trim.
9 - Carefully palmer the ribbing forward for a nice segmented look. Tie off the ribbing, snip off the extra, and form a head. Tie a couple of half hitches, and then a whip finish. Remove the working thread. Put some head cement on the thread forming the head. Pick out the dubbing on the underside of the fly to suggest legs.
10 - Coat the top and sides with the SOFTEX. Allow to dry. Apply a second coat, if you like.

Copyright © 1998 - thisyear The Buckeye United Fly Fishers, Inc. Cincinnati, OH 45242