FLY ROD TECHNIQUES

[Lunker Hunter]

DO ANY OF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY GOOD TIPS ON FISHING WITH A SCUD ON A FLY ROD??? THANX FOR THE INFO

[Charley Hart]

DO ANY OF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY GOOD TIPS ON FISHING WITH A SCUD ON A FLY ROD??? THANX FOR THE INFO

I simply drifted one underneath a small foam indicator. I tried the tandem rigs but stuck mostly with a single fly.

I do change my indicator to a foam spider if I see any takes. But seems like once I do they stop hitting the indicator.

Mostly caught them on a near bottom drift, but did catch a few like you would with a wet.

Heck caught one when the darn thing was dangling and I was trying to release a fish. Almost lost my rod and it scared the $#@$#Q out of me pretty funny...

Good luck and happy fishing!

[Terry Beeson]

I fish scuds under an indicator - as small as you dare. Depth depends on water depth and speed. For unweighted scuds, and most scuds for that matter, place a #4 shot (very VERY small) about 6 inches up from the scud.

I use a small football styrofoam indicator or a couple of palsas. I like white because my brain tells me orange spooks the fish... (and yes... I've seen fish take on orange, yellow, black, white, pink, purple, neon, etc. indicators... LOL...)

The trick is to not use a round indicator as they will not show subtle takes like a football shape or two palsa set-up will.

One thing I learned recently is to cast upstream and make sure your fly lands upstream or across stream from your indicator. There is some argument over this, but my contention is that it will keep the fly in contact with the indicator.

The most important word here is "MEND"... proper mending can make or break a good scud drift. Be sure to not lift the indicator during the mend, but it is OK to move the indicator slightly... turning it a bit.

Any "weird" movement or stop of the indicator, set the hook! Most of the time the takes will be very subtle and you'll just see the indicator stop or move left or right slightly...

Drift them in seams - fast next to slow water. If in an area with grass beds, drift in holes between grass patches... The best scud fishing I've done has been casting into a grass bed, letting it drift down the edge for a few feet to the end, and drift through a bare hole before the next grass bed. Fish will set up at the edge of these beds and just below them in the hole. They are just waiting on a scud to break loose from the grass and move into the current...

Oh, yeah... fish with a 3 or 4 wt rod... It's a blast! OK... if you're into bigger fish, you better go up to a 5-6 or 8 wt....

[SLIPPERY SI]

thanks for the input terry.......i too am new to fly fishing, i have been the last three weekends in a row and must say i am addicted!!! my biggest problem seems to be the proper length of tippe, whether or not to use a leader or just tie it straight to the fly line, size of tippe, and finally placement of the split shots? it took me awhile to figure the perfect setup and still need to do some adjusting....it is fun and i love the challenge!! what knot would you guys recommend when setting up the tandem rig? i have been told you tie it the bend of the hook correct?

thanks,

simon

[Terry Beeson]

Simon,

Typical set-up for a fly rig is:

Backing on the reel

Then fly line

Then leader (I prefer 9 ft tapered knotless but am getting really fond of furled leaders - or you can build your own)

Then tippet around 18-24 inches or better.

I typically install a braided loop to the end of my fly line and use a loop to loop connection for the leader to the fly line, then loop to loop the tippet to the leader. My tippet tends to run 24-26 inches due to my frugal nature and changing flies a lot... I try not to let it get shorter than 16 inches minimum...

The fly is tied to the tippet. I use either an improved clinch knot or a Davy knot. (Thanks Davy Wotton...)

For a two fly rig, I tie tippet to the lead fly with an improved clinch knot at the bend of the hook. Then the next fly with a Davy or IC...

Are you totally confused yet?

Now that I've said that, let me confuse you more....

When night fishing using streamers with an 8wt, I (thanks to Leonard) use about 6-8 ft of 4lb mono (no taper... just plain mono line) for the leader and loop to loop tippet material to it...usually 4X since I don't usually carry 2X...

[OnTheFly]

Instead of using a bobber type strike indicator try using a tube indicator…they sell some commercially made stuff but if you have any old 7wt fly line you can make your own by pulling the core out and sliding the tube on to your leader material. Sometimes I put two pieces on about a foot apart and watch them as they float down the river…if they twitch set he hook…it doesn’t cost anything.