Weight Watcher Scud Fly Pattern
(Straggle Variant)

Our fly tying group was super stoked to have a surprise visitor show up for our wrap up fly fishing class! Big thanks to Deb Paskall for dropping by to show us how to tie and fish her Weight Watcher Scud pattern! A great learning experience and a ton of fun for everyone!

Deb’s Weight Watcher Scud is a very versatile freshwater shrimp fly pattern that can be tied in sizes from teeny tiny #18 to ginormous #8, and in all ranges of the scud world colour scheme (grey, grey/blue/light olive/olive/tan/etc.) and with, or without a pregnant hot spot!

Effective methods to fish the Weight Watcher Scud include: suspended under an indicator with a floating line, and casted and retrieved with a sinker rated to best match the depth that you are fishing.  When asked (and our students surely did ask 😉 ) about her most successful presentation,  Deb reveled a very short but fast strip retrieve on type II or III sinker to be one of her top producers with this pattern!

So there you have it folks! Check out the pattern below, whip some up, get out here and like crazeeeeeeee …

Weight Watcher Scud Fly Pattern | Materials List:

… Deb typically uses plastic chenille for the body but in this case has opted for a UV Straggle (in ginger) variant

• Thread: Ultra 70 (or equivalent) – Black
• Hook: Daiichi 1120 #18 – #8 (this one is tied on a #12)
• Body: UV Straggle 5mm (Ginger)
• Pregnant Hot Spot (Optional): Orange Dubbing
• Over Body: Scudback (Clear or Olive)
• Rib: Wire (XSmall/Silver)

Weight Watcher Scud Fly Pattern | Tying Instructions:

• Place hook in vise, start thread, tie in scudback pointing out over the eye of the hook
• Tie in wire rib behind hook eye & tie it down the hook shank to the hook bend
• Tie in Straggle at hook bend, return tying thread to behind hook eye
• Wrap straggle up the hook shank forming a nice shrimp body, tie off & remove tag
• Pull scudback backwards over the top of the fly & use wire rib to hold it down while wrapping the wire rib forward to form the segmentation (see video)
• Tie off wire rib, remove tag, whip finish
• Trim scudback at the back end of the fly to form a short “V” shaped tail
• Head cement tie off point and (optional) the top of the scudback

Weight Watcher Scud Fly Pattern | The Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoyL-WYCZoc

A big thanks to Deb for sharing the pattern and her experience on the how, when and where to fish it!

*** for more, proven effective BC stillwater fly fishing patterns be sure to check out all of flies on our BCs best fly patterns index page!

*** if you’re interested in custom tied, time tested & proven effective BC Interior fly patterns but would rather buy em than tie em, please check out store!

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