What the heck is a gammarus? (Let's tie a scud.)

There are many ways you can tie this amphipod crustacean but this version with ostrich and UV resin is one of the easiest. As a major source of food for many species, this freshwater shrimp or scud should be in all of our boxes.
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Savage Flies is a project with the mission of encouraging and teaching fly tying to as many people as possible. The channel is named after one of my western Maryland homewaters, the Savage River. Thanks for stopping by.

[@hankremer6606]

Took your advice. Went to Walmart, grabbed an ostrich feather duster! I’m set for years. Tied this one up as well.

[@karljones6594]

Good morning sir Matt. Enjoying my coffee and favorite fly tying video channel. Will have to give this one a try because it looks like a cool pattern. Have a great day and stay safe my friend.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Karl! If nothing else, it's at least a really cool looking fly. And a row of these in your fly box makes you look like a pro. :-)

[@edwardchavez5627]

Good Morning Sir Matt, yes Sir that definitely is a great ty my friend. They are always good to have in the box. Thanks Sir Matt. A busy week getting ready to move at the end of the week, I always make time for a video. Have a great day Sir Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Oh I know you've got these bugs in Texas Edward! Well, they're not really bugs, but crustaceans, but I call everything bugs. :-) Good luck with the move my friend! And don't worry if you don't have time to watch all my videos. I know you're not going anywhere. :-)

[@chevyguy6510]

I love it Matt! Don't let that thing get the best of you!

[@lorawinfrey9112]

Nice I'm definitely going to have to try to tie this one

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Lora! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@martyrothman3933]

Wow Matt I've never seen one of these tide it's really neat now I have to buy more stuff thanks :-) :-) :-)

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! I guess that just goes to show us that not all flies have to be fuzzy. :-)

[@kaimacklin6337]

Looks good Matt

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Kai! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@thomaswalls123]

I've tied many of those. They never come out the way I want them to. Great job👍👍

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Thomas! My biggest problem is the resin dripping around to where I don't want it before I get it hardened.

[@DB-iu8yl]

That’s an awesome looking bug. Great advice on the feather duster.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it DB! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@kenb4685]

Nice work Matt

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Ken! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@ybarrajc]

Good morning Matt, adding this to my list. Thank you for sharing

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@jimholland1592]

Good morning Matt☕️☕️ I may not be a smart man but I know what a scud is( in the voice of Forrest Gump )🤣🤣🤣 you did a fantastic job on this looks really nice👍 I have had amazing granddaughter time and with family but not one fish in three outings. And we celebrated our 40th anniversary here. Stay well and safe 👍

[@SavageFlies]

Momma always said everybody should have a few scuds in their box. :-) So no fish in three outings?? I haven't even been on the water in almost a month! But this Saturday is a fishing weekend for me. IF it warms up. I don't want to freeze my tail off if it's in the 20s at sunrise. Speaking of Georgia, do you remember who Roscoe P. Coletrane was? I'm thinking of working him into a special video for Friday. :-)

[@jimholland1592]

@@SavageFlies I do remember, how fun would that be! And these temperatures, Georgia is getting nice but here in NC it is still brutal where we are. Can’t wait till Thursday 👍I am going out this afternoon when it gets a little warmer 🧐

[@Wyamike734]

Nice looking fly! The feather duster is a great idea, it will provide a lot of herl on the cheep. I will have to give this one a try. Thanks Matt !

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Mike! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@darrellward7121]

Great tutorial as always great looking fly

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Darrell! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@jimgollach6202]

Never fished this type of fly, or seen one tied. Thanks Matt, I definitely enjoyed watching this tie. Excellent tie! Thanks for sharing 👍.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Jim! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@jasonerickson1033]

Thanks for doing all these videos you have been a huge help in me learning how to tie excellent work pls keep them coming it is very appreciated great information!!!!

[@SavageFlies]

Well thank you Jason! I appreciate the kind words my friend,. :-)

[@edwardmlotkiewicz2343]

Nice tie. And, yes,we all unravel at some time! Like the simple techniques that produce an effective fly. Use them quite a bit here in Florida.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Ed! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@sallysanderson3627]

I love this pattern! Back to the vise making scuds, thanks 😊

[@SavageFlies]

And think about how cool a row of these will look in your fly box!

[@ericstewart4732]

Beautiful tie. Thanks for explanation as well.

[@SavageFlies]

Well thank you Eric! I appreciate the note my friend. :-)

[@edherrmann182]

Nice tie Matt. Scuds are excellent fish catchers in early season. They work really well in spring creeks before sow bugs start to move about. I tend to see more scuds under rocks in March and early April. Don’t be afraid to tie a couple completely shaded in with orange marker since they represent dying scuds.

[@SavageFlies]

Great tips Ed! I've always heard to check your water because these things can be in all kinds of colors. Usually grayish with a little pink/red, but I've heard olives, and orange, and even some waters have blues/purples.

[@Dovetail-Artisan]

Hi there Matt, I have to commended you for the detail you go showing your technique and the detail you put into the different flies. Because of your videos, I just purchased all of the tools and materials to start tying myself. I can't thank you enough for the inspiration, the high definition cameras and explaining is priceless. Thank you!! Brian Horton

[@SavageFlies]

Brian, wow, this is such a great comment to receive! This is the entire mission of why I have a channel and hearing this really makes my day. So thank you for that! Now if you'd like, email me your address and I've got a book I'll send you to help you get started. It's one I recommend to a lot of new tiers and I think it'll help you a lot. My email is: [e-mail]. Cheers. -Matt

[@Dovetail-Artisan]

@@SavageFlies Thanks very much Matt, I sent you an email, check your spam or junk mail folder if it doesn't show up.

[@davehall2160]

that is a gorgeous looking fly Matt this one has been on my to-do-list for a while now going to whip out a few thanks for the video

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Dave! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@marshallbaldwin8960]

This scud looks Great. Thank you Sir Matt

[@jeffreystone7327]

I could watch you tie these all day. One of the coolest flies I’ve ever seen. An amazing technique. The end result is incredible. One of the best videos you have done, to me. The UV Resin is some neat stuff. Thanks for sharing this one Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Jeff! Here's the resin I use. It's pretty good stuff: amzn.to/3uDwZhX

[@jeffreystone7327]

@@SavageFlies Matt once again you are a lifesaver. Thank you for the link for the resin. Great price for the whole kit. I’d been holding off, trying to find a good deal. You’re the Man. Thanks buddy.

[@johnnylightning1491]

Nice easy fly Matt. I like the feather duster idea being the cheapskate that I am. Keep the good stuff coming buddy.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Dave! And the best thing, you can occasionally dust off your tying bench with it. :-) Here's the one I got: amzn.to/3uHTNgJ

[@charlieeastland2249]

This is a cool looking fly Matt. Thanks for sharing.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Charlie! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@FlyTyer1948]

Cool way of constructing a scud. I’m going to copy this one. Thanks, Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Bob. This is the first time I've tied a scud this way. And I've always wondered about these hard bodied flies... how long will a fish keep it in its mouth before trying to spit it out? Intuition tells me that a soft, fuzzy fly won't be rejected as quickly. But then again, I've caught a lot of fish with a Copper John and those bugs are all hard. Maybe they do try to spit it but the hook gets in the way. We may never know!

[@FlyTyer1948]

I think you are right. I don’t know if it will look as good, but I wonder if it would work to try using flexible resin which is soft to the touch.

[@bigdaddy99929]

Nice little bug. Yes, it does happen. 😜. But I love using the vinyl bodies. Thx Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Clyde! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@mikeney5113]

Very cool scud pattern matt.looks pretty dang good.thanks.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Mike! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@crowdaddy8355]

Great video for teaching. Love this fly. Thanks Matt.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Chat! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@garrettswoodworx1873]

Good morning sir! Wow, that one was chock full of useful techniques, all well explained! I wonder how many stores are gonna wonder what caused the sudden rush to buy feather dusters? 🙃 First the floss, now lead wire and I suddenly have a great use for those really cheap bobbin holders that have been taking up drawer space. Thanks for sharing your expertise with the rest of us Matt.

[@edherrmann182]

A feather duster will give you more ostrich hurl than you will ever use in a lifetime of tying.

[@SavageFlies]

You bet Garrett! But hahaha... I don't think my little channel will make a dent on how many feather dusters Amazon sells in a day. :-) But as for putting wire in a bobbin holder... definitely do that if you tie with weight often. Just use an old cheap bobbin! I'll even put a spool of UTC Ultra wire in a bobbin holder if I'm tying a lot of flies like Frank Sawyer's original Pheasant Tail or a Copper John.

[@diecastrejuvenation7779]

These are one of my favorites to tie. Great idea of flattening the rib. It'll make the tie in much easier. Thanks Matt!

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Troy! And hey, I thought about you when I bought an airbrush compressor and gun a couple weeks ago. I haven't taken the plunge to trying to restore any diecast cars yet, but I do hope to paint some popper bodies soon. It could be fun, but man, there's a learning curve with it!

[@diecastrejuvenation7779]

It just seems complicated until you've used and cleaned it a couple of times. Then it's smooth sailing!

[@edwardthornton2156]

Nice job Matt. That is a good looking fly and it will catch a lot off fish. It is nice easy tie thanks Matt keep up the good work.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Butch! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@doncogswell9596]

I love it Matt, well done. You are pretty innovative with the lead weight in the bobbin and the flattening of the D rib vinyl. I never would have thought of either of those. I copied your use of floss in the bobbin (from a previous video you made) yesterday and it worked great. How could Mr. Trout possibly pass up this for a snack? "Let's give it a shot"!

[@SavageFlies]

Hahaha! Oh yeah, let's do it Don. Thanks for the note my friend. :-)

[@joutdoorsmen23]

Hi Matt, awesome fly and a Excellent Description on how to fish it and tying it thanks again for what you do. I’m sure going to tie some.

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you J! Have fun with it my friend. :-)

[@joutdoorsmen23]

@@SavageFlies I sure will, as always. I sent you an email I was wondering if you got it or not?

[@samh4232]

Nice…going to add this to my tie list for this weekend. Going to try and find some orange or yellow peacock hurl as well.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Sam! Note, this is ostrich herl though, not peacock. But you can get ostrich dyed in various colors. And peacock herl too, but peacock herl dyed red barely looks any different than natural herl.

[@johnsamothrakis4621]

Hi Matt , great video & like the feather duster tip 👍

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it John! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@JimBarklow]

Matt, Thank you for leaving in the vinyl unraveling. I thought it only happened to me. Others would just edit that out.

[@SavageFlies]

Ha! Thanks Jim. I do leave most of my mistakes in, especially if I can show folks how I recover from it. I actually had some straggle string unravel on me in tonight's video. So yeah, it happens to us all. :-)

[@jamesphillips2216]

Sweet!! Fantastic tips!! Great scud thanks for the informative video Matt!!

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it James! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@toddslichter7831]

Nice tie, Matt. Looks great.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Todd!

[@tompeterson559]

Very cool looking fly! I like the creative use of a feather duster, too. I'll give this one a try for some of the small ponds we have around here.

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Tom! Now I just wish cleaning companies made feather dusters in olives or yellows. :-)

[@TheCanary24]

Nice job and seems easy to tie. I'll give a shot!

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@barbaraemerich1921]

Good morning Matt! Spring break is over! I got lots of fishing in and made lots of flies! So happy to see this pattern I love it! Thank you! I’m definitely going to try tying some up!!

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks Barbara! Our spring break is in a couple of weeks. I'll be out at the farm and hopefully get a couple of days on the Savage River. Fingers crossed for nice weather!

[@laytonmarvin3790]

Nicely tied scud Matt, and a great little fish catcher. As always, thanks for sharing

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Layton! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@rollinlapoint4554]

One of the best scuds I've seen. Very well done!!

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Rollin! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@marksleeper9385]

very nice Matt

[@cosmiccharlie8606]

Vary cool fly 😎 looks like the one im going to be adding to my fly box thank you for your time sir

[@SavageFlies]

And the coolest thing about this one Charlie? A row of these look pretty awesome in your fly box. :-)

[@leonardwells9613]

Just got back and watched the video, many thanks, that was a fine gammarus as well as good uv resin use, many thanks my friend. L 👍👍

[@SavageFlies]

Thank you Leonard! I appreciate you asking me about it. I still haven't tried the colored UV resins yet though so that's still on my to-do list. :-)

[@leonardwells9613]

@@SavageFlies thanks again for the consideration with the video, when you DO get around to using the colored UV resins I think it will open up a very interesting avenue for your videos, there are SO many colors and types of resins. Thank you again. Leonard 👍🎣👍

[@epsieblaine7968]

Hi Matt,great lookin scud.And feather dusters are ausome.I learned to use epoxy before there was u v resin in the fly tying world.Makes you apresate u v resin.Been playing around with silicon last couple years too.Have a great week my friend. Ken

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Ken! I've been thinking about playing around with a hot glue gun and seeing what I can do with that. :-)

[@sinelocum]

Looks great!

[@Graham-1888]

Nice fly that Matt, I use Gulff UV resins and they come in a huge range of colours incl some real buggy ones, don't know if Gulff is available in the USA though but look it up. I tie a pink shrimp that is my top fly for winter Grayling on the rivers, I will send you a photo 😉

[@RockyPhillips]

Thanks for this Matt, reminds me I need to tie some up. Great job

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Rocky! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@dennisfretz1814]

Very nice ty Matt, gonna give them a try in a few sizes. Thanks : Denny.

[@SavageFlies]

Appreciate it Denny! And as always, thanks for watching my friend. :-)

[@gdreilly]

Nice job Matt

[@SavageFlies]

Thanks George!

[@harryjoesather6539]

very cool matt thanks see ya joe

[@coreyjohnson2418]

WOW gotta tie this fly TKS

[@richardbrasington6494]

Nice job All this time I thought it was “gamma ROOS”

[@joeduca8582]

Excellent video Matt, really got me going on a search for all the things I've read or heard about these critters. Seasonal drift, is the orange or red spot an infection or a pregnancy, the best one today was Brookies and 'bows that feed on them have a deep red colored flesh and a delicious rich taste, if you're inclined to harvest some for the table. That confirmed what a fishing buddy told me back in the late '70's. That must be true of the large holdover browns I've caught in the past. Anyway after a couple hours of reading, from 8 to 10 am, Tuesday, I posted my comment for your thoughts, liked and saved the video too. Today I looked for a reply and my comment never posted :o(..."" I don't know why. So I've only tied Shenk's cress bug years ago, never produced, probably didn't know what I doing - still don't - but at least now I know more about the subject :o) Oh yeah, nice to see your feather duster we talked about awhile back, you even gave me a link. I wanted to check out Wally Mart first but never got to it, tended to home a lot back then 😷 So do you have success with these? Thanks Matt, great tutorial 🤓 👍

[@SavageFlies]

You know Joe, I can't remember the last time I ate a trout. No wait, I had some at a fancy restaurant in DC a couple years ago. But alas, I didn't catch those. :-) And yeah, these little crustaceans are pretty cool animals. I almost said "bugs" since I think of everything we put on a hook as a bug. Now this was the first version of this I've tied with the UV resin so I haven't fished it yet. And the only cress bugs I've tied (see, they're called bugs even though they're obviously crustaceans), is the one Joe Humphreys came up with. I've had marginal success with it, but I certainly don't think it was the pattern. Most of my non-fish catching outings lie squarely on my abilities! As for why some of these have the red spot... I came across something when researching this one that said you usually see it in the sick ones that are about to die. I have no idea if that's true, but it does make me want to try and catch some of these to examine the next time I'm on the river. Like this weekend. This Saturday is my next "Dad's fishing day" around here. Just keeping my fingers crossed for some good weather. Anyway, thanks for the note. :-)

[@MyItalians]

I like it. I want too tie some but not sure if there is a good fly for the west coast. Never see people use them. Thanks for the share.

[@SavageFlies]

Funny you mention that Nich. I don't see it used a lot here either, but I definitely hear people talking about these, and scuds and cress bugs. So I know they're here! And I've used some plain old cress bugs but never these fancy UV resin hard body flies. I'm going to try a few this year though. :-)

[@dennismccarthy7146]

My very first fly tying VHS tape was from Dick Talleur. I had a chance to meet and speak with him at the Somerset show that year, where I just happened to mention I learned more from his mistakes (cutting the tying thread, etc..) and how to recover. That tricky D-rib not seating properly and how you made sure the round side up reminded me of Mr. Talleur, however, I believe you will take it as a complement, where Mr. Talleur didn't. As always, BRAVO ZULU.

[@SavageFlies]

Hahaha, that's funny! And yes, I take it as a compliment. I actually leave most all of my mistakes in the video. Within reason of course. If I totally mess up a fly (and that happens), sometimes I'll start the recording over. :-)

[@Jd-yc3gw]

Good morning Matt. ☕️time. Lead weight in a bobbin holder now. I foresee more bobbin holders in my future. Cool pattern and should be a trout catcher. Lake Trout and even Pike in some areas up here feed heavily on freshwater shrimp and their flesh is bright orange ( and tasty too). Going to have to find me a feather duster when no one’s looking. Wouldn’t want the missus thinking I’ve been domesticated. 😀. Take care Matt and have a great week, oh and check your email when you get a moment.

[@SavageFlies]

Ha!! I ordered my own feather duster, but now you've got me thinking... we have one upstairs for dusting the ceiling fans. It's not ostrich but some kind of blue micro fibers. I wonder what we could make with that? Anyway, yeah, get you some $3 bobbin holders for lead wire and even UTC if you tie a lot of original PTs or Copper Johns. :-)

[@RyanAshley419]

Melting the tip of the rib. Huh. Never thought of doing that, which is funny because with all the leather work I do, I melt the tips of the sinew when I'm lacing all the time.

[@SavageFlies]

Oh yeah, it helps. I think I learned it from Barry Ord Clarke. Just keep in mind some rubbers or vinyls melt easier than others. This UTC is still pretty firm so it doesn't really stretch out to a fine point.

[@struttingtom5120]

Hey Matt, Nice tie for sure. But May ask the size d rib you used? I see a few sizes ! Thanks a bunch.

[@dahutful]

Turns out looking pretty neat! I remember reading somewhere that gammarus in that curved attitude mimics one that is sick or dying. Supposedly, fish would prefer a more healthy specimen? Do you know anything about that? Your devoted fan, David Palmetto Fly n Fish

[@SavageFlies]

I've never read that Dave about these little crustaceans. And it does make sense intuitively. But then again, bigger fish eat sick or injured baitfish all the time. Maybe it's just the lure of an easy meal. I guess we'll never know what they're thinking. :-)

[@hughiegraves8901]

Just curious how long have you been tying Flys.?

[@SavageFlies]

I tied my first fly in the 1980s, but then only tied off and on for the next 30+ years. I really got back into it in 2018 so the best answer is about four years now.

[@iklink]

what strength leaders do you use for flies this small size 10-14

[@SavageFlies]

I use 5x probably 80% of the time. For smaller dries I might go to 6x, then 4x for streamers or big wets.

[@iklink]

@@SavageFlies what's the equivalent in poundage?