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.

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.

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)

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)