Dorsey's UV Scud | FLY TYING TUTORIAL

Scuds are small freshwater crustaceans that can be found in both streams and stillwater fisheries. They're primarily responsible for the health and size of the resident trout in tailwaters like Colorado's South Platte River. Scuds are also a staple in the fly boxes of anglers that spend time on lakes, especially in western states.

When they're alive, the majority of scuds are some shade of olive or tan. But when they die, they quickly transform to orange in color. In tailwaters, scuds can be found at all times of the year. When the streamflows increase, living scuds will often be dislodged from their weed bed homes and get pushed downstream. Additionally, scuds get stranded and die when flows from the bottom of a dam are frequently decreased and increased. The result: during the increase in flows, a buffet of dead orange scuds float downstream, becoming easy meals for foraging trout.

In this video, Anglers All's resident fly tying expert Ben Baxter takes us through the process of tying Pat Dorsey's UV Scud, including tips on working with synthetic materials efficiently and making the pattern look as realistic as possible. Dorsey's UV Scud is a shop favorite and one of the most effective scud imitations you can fish.

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MATERIALS LIST: UV Scud (Orange)

HOOK: Tiemco 2487 OR Tiemco 2457 (#10 - #16)

THREAD: 6/0 Danville (Orange)

TAIL: Antron (Orange)

RIB: Veevus Monofil Thread (.1mm | Clear)

SHELL BACK: Sow-Scud Back (Clear)

ABDOMEN: UV Ice Dub (Shrimp Pink)

ANTENNAE: Antron (Orange)

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CHAPTERS / TIME STAMPS: Tying Pat Dorsey's UV Scud

00:00 - Intro
00:22 - Starting the thread
00:43 - Tying in the Antron Yarn
01:32 - Anchoring the Monofil thread for the rib
02:26 - Anchoring the Sow-Scud Back
02:47 - Dubbing the body
05:07 - Brushing out the body to form the legs
05:57 - Pulling forward the Sow-Scud Back to form the shell back
06:26 - Add half hitch to hold materials in place
06:52 - Ribbing the body with the Monofil Thread
07:22 - Using the "wiggle technique" to work ribbing around legs
07:43 - Trim Sow-Scud Back
07:59 - Secure and trim ribbing
08:28 - Trimming the tail (near eye of the hook)
08:38 - Trimming the antennae (near the bend of the hook)
08:53 - Whip finish & add half hitches
09:28 - Trim legs to hook point

[wyomingtrout]

I find those oversized whip finishers hard to deal with too