Fly Focus: Pink Scud

If you are fishing in a quality trout stream, there is a good chance that some scuds live in it. And, as a general rule, trout love scuds. And who can blame them? They are essentially like little freshwater shrimp, and we all know how good shrimps are, am I right? Oh man, I could eat about 50 plates of shrimp scampi right about now... That's probably why I am 30 pounds overweight...

Mmmmm, doesn't this scud look yummy?

There are a lot of scud patterns out there. My favorite is the tried and true plastic bag version, which I learned about 25 years ago or more. I call it the plastic bag version because a thin strip of a plastic zip-lock style bag is used for the shellback. It's cheap. It looks good. And it's an effective fly. What more could you ask for?

Let's learn how to tie a pink version of this scud pattern, shall we?

Pink Scud Pattern Recipe

Hook: Scud hook in size 12-16
Bead: Black or copper, sized to the hook
Weight: Lead wire
Thread: Orange or pink, 8/0 or smaller
Tail: Pheasant tail fibers
Rib: Copper wire, size small or Brassie
Shellback: Strip of plastic zip-lock style bag
Body: 50/50 mix of pink Ice Dub and pink or orange rabbit fur