I had read somewhere the scud/ sows were majorly #16. I think this was a mistake and need to go to size #18. Caught “some” on trout crack #16. I’ll go smaller on these as well.
I’ve been fishing there steadily the last few years. My in-laws bought a place there a few years ago. Before then, I fished there a few weekends out of the year for geez... 30 years now! I’m blessed to have a family stream with wild trout.
I fish a mono rig the majority of the time nymphing. Only add an indicator to it when I want to just relax or wind picks up. Not bragging but I’m very good at nymphing. It’s my strong point I guess 😁. As for not fishing near bottom, I do pretty darn good there.