Scuds

First, let’s talk about scuds. Ever heard of them? I was first introduced to them in Arkansas a few years ago. Don’t hear too much about them around here. Thanks to the Fly-Fishing-Discounter.com who had this info on their website:

FRESHWATER SHRIMP
a.k.a. SCUD
Trout eat ’em up

The freshwater shrimp is one of the most popular natural food sources for trout. A freshwater shrimp is usually referred to as a scud. Don’t worry if you didn’t know that already because I didn’t until I started writing this. They are also called by a few other names which we’ll get to in a second.

Scuds are in the class crustacea, order amphipoda, family gammaridae. They are also commonly called gammarus shrimp and sideswimmers. Scuds are an entirely aquatic species, so they never venture on land. There are males and females and both are needed for reproduction. Either way, they taste really good with a nice white wine.
The freshwater shrimp (notice I am using its various names interchangeably) will reproduce several times a year. The male will carry the female on his back during mating. The female then carries around fifty fertilized eggs in her egg pouch. The eggs are an orange color and can be clearly seen beneath her transparent shell. Young scuds hatch within the pouch. They then emerge live and fully formed, yet almost microscopic in size.

The young freshwater shrimp will form a hard shell (exoskeleton) quickly. This is shed frequently as the scud grows larger. At times, the shed skins can be seen on the water’s surface. Scuds will range in size to about ¾ of an inch in length although most adults reach about ½ inch at maturity.
The scud has no natural defense other than simple cover or camouflage. For this reason, they will take cover in weeds and will be more active during early morning or evening hours. They are most active at night as they are harder to be seen then. Otherwise they could end up as dinner for a lucky trout or bass.

The scud is basically a scavenger type feeder eating mainly organic plant materials and algae. The exoskeleton is transparent so the scud’s diet determines their actual color. This helps their camouflage defenses because they tend to take on the color of their surroundings. Gives new meaning to the old adage “you are what you eat” doesn’t it?
Oddly enough, scuds are not solely algae eaters and will occasionally feed off of injured aquatic organisms. Scuds are found in all depths of water but generally in bodies of water that are less than 35 feet deep. They also require calcium to build their shell, so lakes in low lying areas are conducive to the scud’s purpose.

Among the lakes of the interior United States, scuds are the single most source of food for trout. Scuds make up one-third to one-half of the trout’s complete diet. No other food source comes close to matching that percentage. Who says that fish aren’t finicky eaters?
Because the scud doesn’t “hatch” in the general sense of the word, scuds can be fished year round. There are peaks to the feeding of the fish population, but the scud is always the largest component of the trout’s feeding content by far.
The most effective way to fish the scud is to bring it on the bottom or very near to it. Fishing off the middle is effective with an unweighted scud imitation. Simply retrieve a bit and let the scud drop down, then retrieve again. This imitation of the scud’s swimming drives trout crazy and success is just a rod twitch away!

Well, I couldn’t have said it better myself. But, then, this story is only partly about scuds. It is more about the people we meet standing in the river sometimes.

We’d been fishing over on the White River for a couple of days, running back and forth between generation schedules from the big dams that create the tail waters that produce some of the biggest trout in the country and perhaps, the world. But, that morning my son Phil, his buddy from work, Jason, and I were catching nothing! For several hours! We had about decided all the trout were now gone from the White River and we should just go to lunch.

So, we started back to the car walking along the well-worn trail. The river was fairly open there and you could drive down close to the wading area.

A fellow was out a few yards in the water casting to a seam a few feet out in the middle. He had a pony tail and was wearing a baseball type cap. His hair was routed through the space created by the adjusting strap. He appeared to have never been in the sun with very white skin and he was paying no attention to us. Needless to say, to us, he did not look like a stereotypical fly fisherman.

Phil called out to him and asked if he was having any luck. Actually, when you aren’t catching any you sorta prefer to hear that the other person isn’t either. But that turned out to not be the case.

He replied, “I have caught about 40 but I am a professional and I should be catching them.”

“Seriously, you have caught 40?” Phil replied.

“Yea. But I am a professional,” he repeated. Emphasis on am.

We kept walking and under our collective breaths we said to each other, “Yea. Right! He’s full of it.” If we couldn’t catch them, nobody else could was our assumption.

A few yards past him we came up on an older couple sitting on two five gallon buckets and casting spinning rods out to the middle. The same seam the ponytail guy was fishing just down a few yards.
We asked them how they were doing and they said they were not catching anything. Just like us. But, they added, “We aren’t catching any but that guy down there has been catching one after the other.” That got our attention!

We walked back to where the ponytail guy was and said, “Those folks say you are catching one after the other. What are you using?”

He said, “I have caught a lot. I always catch a lot. I am a professional so I should catch them. You guys thought I was full of it when you asked me before, I know. I come across like that sometime.”

He went on to tell us his name was Tom and he ran a fly fishing guide business in the area. In fact, he lived a short distance from the river. And, he showed us the simple scud pattern he was using. Flies that he and his wife, mostly his wife, tied and sold. Scuds. Freshwater shrimp about one half inch in length.

He then went on to demonstrate how he was casting the line with the scud and strike indicator.
He cast upstream and in what looked like one motion mended the line and shook out extra line that put a big “S” pattern in the slack line lying on the water. In a moment, he had a strike. He did it two or three more times before Phil asked if we could get some flies from him.

He informed Phil he would give him one but if we wanted more we would have to buy them. Phil said O.K.

Then he told Phil to hand him his rod and he would put a fly on and show him how to fish it. Tom reached for Phil’s rod and said, “Take my rod and cast it out there like I showed you while I put the fly on your rod. That is a custom made 2Weight bamboo rod. You break it, you bought it.”
Not a rod you saw on the White River every day! Or any other big water. In a minute Phil was catching fish!

Tom proceeded to set up Jason’s rod and then mine and we all started catching fish using the scuds and technique Tom had shown us.

Tom’s wife drove up in an old station wagon with a magnetic sign on the side with the name of his guide service. He told her we wanted some flies.

Her reply: “I hope they don’t expect them to be free.”

We followed them to their house and got some flies. I am not sure if we caught another fish on them or not.

But we learned a few things. Scuds will catch fish. Tom was a professional. Tom’s wife did not give away flies. And, don’t judge a fisherman by his ponytail.

Tom Rogers is still there, still guiding and I suppose tying and selling scuds or some other patterns. He is a pro.

JC © November 2018