Dubbing Blend - Olive Mole Fur, Tan Mole Fur and Olive Pine Squirrel (with rounghly half of the guard hairs removed)
Here is the blend after it is fully mixed in a spice grinder. The mixture is intended to capture the tan/olive colorations of natural scuds.
FORMING THE SPUN BODIES:
Strip off eight to ten feet of Pearsall's orange Gossamer silk thread, then pull the thread across a dubbing wax (in this case "Shuck Wax"). Repeat the waxing step three times, to ensure the thread is fully coated with wax. The silk will darken slightly as a result of the wax treatment.
Place your finger along the top edge of your dubbing block and then gently wrap the prewaxed thread around the dubbing block.
Clip the loop of silk thread. You will be left with a dozen or so pre-waxed silk strands all the same length and ready for quickly forming the dubbed bodies.
Fold the silk strand over the brad at the top and even the ends. Pull one end down into the notch at the near edge (bottom) of the dubbing block, then pull the other end off to the notch at the right hand side of the block.
Using tweezers, place dubbing onto the waxed thread. The layer of dubbing should be very thin, allowing you to see the silk strand underneath the dubbing. Taper the body (wider at top/narrower at the bottom).
Draw the silk strand over the top of the silk dubbing and then twist the strand together, forming the dubbed silk bodies.
Repeat process to form a dozen bodies. The completed bodies are stored on paper card. Allow the bodies to sit for 24 hours will ensure the wax has time to fully "set". In this case I cheated. I popped the completed bodies into the freezer for 20 minutes, so I could then go on to complete the flies.
Imitative Living Scud Pattern
Hook - Daiichi Model 1740 (TUE/Turned Up Eye) Hook/Size 14/2X long Shank
Thread - Pearsall's Gossamer Silk (Orange)
Hackle - Starling Back Hackle (Bleached Ginger)
Body/Tag - Prepared Spun Dubbed Bodies (Tan and Olive "Scud Blend"/Mole and Pine Squirrel on Waxed Orange Pearsall's Gossomer silk core)
The colors were specifically chosen to imitate natural fresh water scuds (tan and olive blend), with ginger color hackle (legs). The orange silk tag/core/head were chosen to imitate the orange hotspot that naturally occurs in pregnant scuds, and ones infected with a parasite (Acanthocephalan). Trout will key in on the orange spot. The 2X longer straight hook shank is also an important element in the design of this pattern. Natural scuds maintain a straight body profile when they are swimming, rather than the curved shape normally found in fly bins. Apparently a curved scud is normally a dead scud. The trout are most likely to key in on the straight body profile, since they may associate it with a fleeing insect.
PREPARED MATERIALS:
TYING INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Wax roughly 6 to 8 inches of tying thread and attach to the hook. Mount the thread roughly one hook-eye distance behind the eye of the hook. Leave the bare hook shank for later. Make five wraps of thread and then stop.
2) Prepare a starling hackle by stripping off the fluff at the base of the feather. Tye the feather in by the stem, with the hackle hanging out over the eye of the hook. I like to make eleven wraps back to the center of the hook shank, then bring the thread back forward to the front of the body (forward edge of where the thread was initially mounted onto the hook). This will form two layers of silk on the front half of the body, which will later help form a tapered body.
3) Tye in one of the prepared dubbed silk bodies onto the hook. Wrap the thread to slightly beyond the hook point, then forward again to the base of the hackle.
4) Grasp the end of the silk body in a pair of hackle pliers and make three wraps towards the bend of the hook (helps form an orange silk tag) and then forward to the front of the fly. Make three secure wraps of the tying thread and clip of the excess dubbing body.
5) Wrap the hackle back towards the body of the fly. I like two or three wraps of hackle.
6) While maintaining good tension on the thread, wind the thread forward thru the hackle in a zigzag fashion to prevent trapping the hackle fibers.
7) Wax the thread and then form the head by whip finishing the fly. Ideally the head will be a slender conical shape. The head forms an additional orange hot-spot making it easier for trout to spot.
Repeat the process to form a set of flies, ready for the next time you encounter scud water (lakes, ponds, crystal clear spring creeks, etc.).
I used our imitative soft hackle fly swap to work out the design for a flymph based scud pattern. My fly is be based on the photos and detailed descriptions provided in the following excellent articles about scuds.
http://soft-hacklejournal.blogspot.com/ ... chive.html
http://www.flycraftangling.com/index.asp?p=123
, beyond cool, ... farm out, right arm dude.