FLY BOX: Dorsey's UV Scud
IMAGE: Weekender Media
Intro
If you're fishing any tailwater in Colorado during the winter, this pattern is always worth AT LEAST a dozen clean drifts. Honestly, it's worth a dozen clean drifts every single day of the year. Scuds are a significant food source for trout in rivers like the South Platte, the Blue, the Frying Pan, etc.
While the fish in these heavily pressured tailwaters are generally spooky and feed selectively, a well placed scud pattern can do some serious damage. The UV Scud’s creator, Pat Dorsey, uses different colors of the pattern strategically (see below), but both the orange and the olive colors have been effective for me year round. No tailwater box is complete without this thing.
IMAGE: Pat Dorsey Fly Fishing
“The UV Scud is a pattern that all tailwater junkies should carry in their arsenal of flies. Scuds are freshwater crustaceans that provide a high protein food source for trout in both stillwater impoundents and the tail races below. The UV Scud was developed to imitate the Gammarus specimens. Olive scuds (living scuds) are a great attractor year-round as opportunistic trout are always looking for them. Orange scuds are particularly effective during the spring months because fluctuating flows routinely flush-out dead scuds from the substrate into the drift. Trout also readily take an orange scud as an egg during the spring season, so they are twice as effective.”
IMAGE: Weekender Media
“Scuds have a shrimp-like appearance with a tail, segmented body, shell back, and antennae, all key characteristics that must be accounted for when designing impostors. My seine samples prove that scuds have a brilliant UV sheen to them, thus the UV Scud was born. The UV Scud incorporates Antron into the design for the tail and antennae, Hareline’s UV Dubbing for the body, and a plastic shell back ribbed with mono-filament to create a life-like look, with the final touch, pulling down the legs (dubbing) with a bodkin. Scuds are powerful swimmers, so legs are an important part of their design.”
IMAGE: Weekender Media
Applications
CATEGORY: Nymph - Freshwater Shrimp
TARGET SPECIES: Trout
Full disclosure: I don’t know that I always fish this pattern correctly. While common wisdom is to fish scuds and freshwater shrimp imitations along the bottom, I have found that targeting the middle of the water column around grass beds to be particularly effective. Will scuds produce when bounced along the bottom on a heavy nymph rig? Of course they will. But keeping your flies near the grass will usually uncover fish that have their guard down in pursuit of a meal.
Keep in mind: scuds usually live amongst the weeds, using the plants for both food and protection from predators. When the grass gets washed downstream during bumps in river flows, the scuds become dislodged and wash downstream. The same thing happens when the grass dies off and floats down. The key is to identify the pockets and tailouts that the vegetation is being pushed into. Here, you will usually find a pod of trout eating them like candy.
VIDEO: TravelVideographer
About the Tyer
Pat Dorsey, Blue Quill Angler / Umpqua Feather Merchants
As a native of Colorado, Pat Dorsey has been guiding customers of all abilities for nearly 30 years. Pat Dorsey spends well over two hundred days a year on the water, a combination of guiding clients, hosting destination travel-trips, and personal days on the water.
Pat Dorsey is the head guide and a co-owner of the Blue Quill Angler fly shop in Evergreen, Colorado. He oversees and trains more than 25 guides, setting the standard for integrity and professionalism in the Blue Quill Angler guide operation. Dorsey also, publishes an online stream report that monitors stream flows and conditions for the Blue, Colorado, South Platte (Cheesman, Deckers, Spinney Mountain Ranch, and Eleven Mile Canyon), North Fork of the South Platte, and Williams Fork Rivers.
(via PatDorseyFlyFishing.com)
IMAGE: Davis James Photo
Material List - Dorsey’s UV Scud (Orange)
HOOK: Tiemco 2457 or Timeco 2487 (#10-18)
THREAD: Danville’s 6/0 (Orange)
TAIL: Antron (Orange)
RIB: 5X tippet
SHELL BACK: ZipLoc Bag strip or Scud Back
ABDOMEN: UV Ice Dub (Shrimp Pink)
ANTENNAE: Antron (Orange)