Scuds

[DUBBN]

I know. Soft Hackles arent suppose to represent scuds. I dont agree with that. In my opinion Wingless Wets do a great job of imitating scuds. I have been on too many rivers where scuds are the primary source of food for making fat trout, and those fish cant resist a juicy Soft Hackle!

Hook - Must 3906B size 14
Thread - Red UTC 70
Rib - Copper wire
Body - Orange Ice Dub
Collar - Partridge



A couple rivers here in Colorado make me LOVE this pattern! The Gunnison in the Black Canyon, and the Yampa near Steamboat Springs.

[letumgo]

What a great fly! Beautifully balanced proportions (body, hackle, head are all harmonious). Very well photographed, too.

I agree, this looks like an excellent scud pattern.

[willowhead]

THAT! is a cool fly.....i just happen to be a huge fan of ice dub.....although i'll often mix colors instead of using it right outta the package. For the most part, it's an all one thing type of material in it's different colors. i like to blend the colors.....cause you hardly ever see a bug just one color. Course i have no way of knowin' if the fish give a flyin' hoot one way or the other.........cause i've never been one to go round makin' comparisons and all that when fishin'.....the time i have on the water is to precious to waste in such a way.........for my liking. What i mean is i'm just not into the scientific approach. Specially since it really doesn't matter on the "catch" tip anyway. If i left the house to go fishin'........i had a good day.
Very nice fly Wayne..... Hope your in the swap?

[Old Hat]

Perfect!

[tie2fish]

Delicious morsel for a hungry trout. Well done all around, DUBBN.

[DUBBN]

Thank you folks for the kind words.

Mark, your comment on blending different dubbings to achieve different colors, as most bugs are made up of different colors? I agree. If this pattern were tyed as a nymph I would have probably added a Brown Quick Decent dubbing to the Orange Ice Dub, and a shellback to the top of it. I hear all the time that it is the movement in our feathers (Soft Hackles) that trigger fish to strike, and makes our patterns so successful. While I agree with this to an extent, I do not subscribe to it totally. I believe I have added a minimum of two colors to the Orange and Copper body of the fly with the Partridge collar (light Brown and Black). What I am trying to say is, I believe the feathers of our Soft Hackles,Wingless Wets, and Flymphs add color to the body of the flys and in my opinion this is just as important as adding movement. I am always amazed when I pull a Flymph pattern out of the water to clean off a leaf I have snagged. The hackles is all wet and becomes a shroud around the entire fly. I can see where the fish can mistake it for a shuck, or the actual body of the insect we are trying to mimic. Those feathers actually morph into the body becoming a part of the abdomen and thorax. When my Dry fly, especially hackled drys become water logged and I pull them off the water, they still look the same as when they were floating. My nymph patterns are the same way. They look wet when in use, but they really dont change in appearance. In my opinion I tend to use too many turns of feather on my patterns. When fishing them the feather color is dominant, accented by what ever color the body of the fly happens to be. Is this wrong? I dont think so. If Partridge is the color of the collar then the fly looks mottled up and down its length with a touch of Orange showing through. Had I used a Badger Hen feather, when the feather started covering the body of the fly(in water), the thorax would be Black, and the abdomen would have been Lt Brown to Cream colored, with a hint of Orange showing through.
These are my opinions based on my observations. They are up for debate and always will be, but in the end, I will always be one extemely good looking man!

[willowhead]

YA GOTTA LOVE IT....................YA JUST GOTTA LOVE IT...................ROTFLMAO..............on a serious tip for a second..........i agree completely with everything you said................and i'm way guilty of over hackling everything....................."but officer, i just couldn't help myself"..........

shoot me a cell number (PM).....i'll give you a ring when we get to Vail.....

[letumgo]

Wayne,

I couldn't agree more with your observations. I did some experiments last summer that convinced me the hackle of these flies spring to life the instant they hit the water. I posted about the experiments in one of my earlier posts (see links below).

Here is an excerpt from that thread (from page 3):

TRY THIS FUN LITTLE EXPERIMENT:
I encourage everyone to give this little experiment a try. Take a small paper cup and fill it with water. Take a soft hackle fly and soak it with water. Then lift it in and out of the cup of water (I used a pair of magnetized tweezers). This little experiment illustrated something else I had not noticed before. When I was taking the series of fly photos, I noticed that the flies "spring to life" the instant they penetrate the surface of the water. As I took the wet flies in and out of the water, the surface tension naturally draws the hackle fibers (legs/wings/etc) against the body of the fly. What caught my attention was the how the legs would immediately spring outwards and relax, as soon as the flies dropped below the surface layer. I had the distinct impression that the flies were coming to life (or at least had movement all on their own). I am convinced that, if a fish observes this movement, just as a fly hits the surface of the water, it would have the impression the fly is alive and struggling. I think the movement would act as a feeding trigger, and may explain a little about why these flies have proven so successful over the years. Give it a try. I'd love to hear your impressions.

http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 1&start=20 (page three)

[DUBBN]

Ray,for the life of me I cant figure out why that fly of yours would even work!





Pale Green Itch Scratcher (Soft Hackle Caddis Imitation)
Hook - Mustad Model 94842/Size 12 Turned-Up Eye (TUE)
Tread - Gossamer Silk (Green)
Hackle - Bleached Hungarian Partridge
Body - Natural Wool Dubbing (pale green custom wool blend - roughly one part natural wool to one part green wool yarn)
Rib - Tying Silk

Ray, I hope you dont mind me using your picture. If you do, I will promptly remove it.

[letumgo]

Not at all. I think you found a perfect match. VERY COOL! Thanks.