Fishing

Below is the scud fly tying instructions/recipe by Jeff Goff who was legendary for bringing gallon jars of scuds to a local Denver fly shop that I used to frequent, which he brought in his vehicle all the way down from Grey's Reef, Wyoming, just to show how many were in the river during a few minute seining session he had done. It was a gallon jar and it looked like there were a million grayish scuds in it. To date, Jeff Goff's Scud is still the most realistic scud pattern I have ever seen, for when the fly was thrown in that jar of scuds, you couldn't find it (a trick he liked to perform at the shop after tying one of his flies). Many more realistic plastic looking patterns have developed over the years, but they don't look the same in that jar with the naturals, as Jeff threw a few others in the jar from the fly shop's bins. It's been over 25 years since those days, and I was sad to see that Jeff had passed away as I attempted to research what he was up to these days for this article, as I am grateful for this fly which has served me well throughout the Western states. I often fish it as the upper fly with the RS2 as the lower fly. He also devised a very cute little lady bug, which I never caught any fish on, but it was a fun little pattern to give away to friends. Jeff Goff's Wyoming Scud  Hook: Dia- Riki 135 scud  Size 12Tail mallard flank fibers at 1/8” or so, yellow thread light CahillScud back light grayLead weight, tie in at eye

My fishing buddy, Ferenc, has been on a 20+ year long succession of playing around with attractor type flies, in addition to being one of Rim's students in the nymphing methods of the RS2. His obsession for his own plethora of flies started with what we called his Desparado fly.   It has since morphed into lots of different patterns, mostly tailored for fishing around the Madison.   He has almost given up fishing light lines and Rim's RS2 in Colorado, now preferring the big waters of Montana, fighting high wind and landing a monster brown on it in fast current.   He's gone to "a Scott Centric 9 foot 5 weight which is an outstanding rod on the Madison, where I often cast far out into the river.   I used it on the Eagle in Colorado and it was excellent with a 4 or 5 weight line on the same rod. SA's MPX line. I use the  same leader Rim uses. Everything below the fly line is the same as Rim's: Frog Hair leader: Supple Butt / SuppleTip Leader ; Dry Fly Slack Leader; 4X- Slack Leader; 11.5' ; FSL1-12 Ferenc's new favorite attractor fly for spring high water conditions is the Finlayson's Dirty Politician, which has been deadly for Euro Style nymph fishing across the pond and here in the West, especially in Montana. I recently jumped on the bandwagon and started tying the Dirty Politician in pink and orange. We have had days where it is hugely successful and other days where it didn't work at all. But it is definitely a keeper for the upper fly in my two fly system with an RS2 as the dropper in high water conditions.   Ferenc

My first favorite fly on the South Platte was The Brassie. Then, Pat Dorsey's Miracle Midge and Mercury Black Beauty. Then, I fell in love with Greg Garcia's Rojo Midge. This was followed by a step back in history, when I went back to Sawyer's Pheasant Tail and his Grey Goose, as my favorites. And, by favorite, I mean the fly that has caught the most fish over time (which is always my upper fly fished with an RS2 as the point fly (in about 6 different sizes and 6 different colors, as Rim Chung has done for 30 years, as it is still my most productive fly ever when you have those colors and sizes available to select from, which also changes throughout the day). Then, I became enamoured with Andy Kim's Yong Specials, his Yong Blood and recently Rim Chung's Plebby. Then, back to Andy's Improved Yong Specials and YKnot, as my most recent favorites. But, now I have finally had an epiphany after some 40 years of fishing and I have combined them all into the single best pattern that I have used in recent times, which I call The Calgon Fly or Ancient Chinese Secret. It's killing it in local Western waters. But they are all great midge patterns and have been extremely productive for me throughout the years, and they are all quite similar when you look closely at them. Do the trout know, or do they just like something a little different once in a while on our heavily pressured tailwaters?

Yong OJ is Andy Kim's orange mini-scud or micro-egg pattern using San Juan worm chenille or vernille material tied in for the length of the shank then doubled over and ribbed with matching thread on a curved scud hook.  Also favorite colors of Andy's in this patter are pink and yellow. This is my daughter's favorite fly to tie or to fish, so I'll put the recipe here on our family recipes and sporting pages, so that she doesn't forget it, nor Andy's comments about this extremely effective fly. To buy the flies from Andy or book a trip visit his site at: http://www.fly-fish.com/ You won't be disappointed, as he catches a tremendous amount of fish on the San Juan and he can teach you his methods, which are quite unique and extremely effective. Tying My Daughter’s Favorite Fly Yong OJ is Andy Kim’s orange mini-scud or micro-egg pattern using San Juan worm chenille or vernille material tied in for the length of the shank then doubled over and ribbed with matching thread on a curved scud hook.  Besides just tithe OJ color, as Andy says the color spectrum changes throughout the day, his other colors of in this patter are pink and yellow. This is my daughter’s favorite fly to tie or to fish, so I’ll put the recipe here on our family recipes and sporting pages, so that she doesn’t forget it, nor Andy’s comments about this extremely effective fly. Hook: Tiemco 2457 in size 20 (or similar types in fairly micro sizes compared to the much larger usual egg patterns sold in shops) Thread: Uni-thread light cahill (for all colors, as it turns relatively transparent when wet) Body: Wapsi Ultra Chenille–Micro Fluorescent