Monthly Archives: December 2012

Here is a quick little scud pattern to add to your trout box. Scuds are an important food source for trout in nutrient-rich spring creeks and tailwaters year- round. This fly fishes equally well in rivers and lakes. Drop it off a beadhead in an indicator rig or strip it in around the weed beds. The simple scud uses just a few materials and is very easy to tie. For me, the simple scud is more of a style of fly than an exact pattern. Don’t be afraid to experiment and change it up. For this fly, I used a standard straight Mustad Signature Series Nymph hook (mostly because I don’t have any scud hooks:)), which works just fine. My favorite dubbing blend is a mix of hare’s ear, antron, and Ice Dub, but scud dub, Ice Dub, and antron are all good substitutions. The scruffier the better, so don’t…

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The first couple days of our trip out to the Smokies in late October were shut out due to some rainy, cold conditions. The hurricane pushed a huge cold front through the mountains, dumping over three feet of snow in the higher elevations! Newfound Gap Road, which cuts through the mountains, was closed for most of the first two days. All that was left to do fishing-wise was to sit down and crank out a bunch of flies. That’s exactly what we did. First on the menu were some tungsten hare and coppers tied with lemon wood duck flank from a wood duck I shot in September. I always keep a good stock of these in my box, as they work well pretty much anywhere and are quick and easy to tie. The tungsten version worked great to get down to the fish in the cold. Next, I whipped up…

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