Gammarus

Nymph imitating shrimp and scuds, for trout, grayling and sea trout. Beginner.

A plump olive dubbed body on a curved hook, a tan shellback and a gold wire rib, with the dubbing brushed out underneath for legs.

Materials

Steps

  1. Attach thread Attach the thread at 67% of the way along the shank with a few turns and trim the tag end.
  2. Wrap thread Wrap the thread to the start of the bend in touching turns.
  3. Tie in: olive fibres (antennae) Tie in the olive fibres (antennae), leaving 0.6× the gape sticking out behind. A thin wisp, trimmed short.
  4. Tie in: gold wire Tie in the gold wire with a few firm thread turns.
  5. Tie in: tan scud back Tie in the tan scud back with a few firm thread turns. Wrapped back into the bend, centred on top.
  6. Dub: smoky olive scud dubbing Twist a thin noodle of smoky olive scud dubbing onto the thread and wrap it forward to 92% of the way along the shank. A plump body tapering at both ends, stopping short of the eye.
  7. Pull over: tan scud back Pull the tan scud back forward over the top of the body and tie it down at 92% of the way along the shank. Trim the excess.
  8. Wind: gold wire Wind the gold wire forward to 92% of the way along the shank in 8 turns. Open turns over shell and body; firmer pressure gives deeper segments.
  9. Tie off: gold wire Tie off the gold wire with a few thread turns and trim the excess.
  10. Whip finish Form a small head, whip finish with 5 turns and cut the thread. Brush out the dubbing underneath for legs about a gape long.

History

Not one pattern but a family: imitations of the freshwater shrimps (Gammarus and other amphipods) that trout and grayling eat all year. This is the plain dubbed, shellbacked and ribbed scud; Oliver Edwards' Deep Diving Shrimp and Nick Thomas' Shwimp are well-known relatives. Orange and pink versions are fished for sea trout on Scandinavian coasts.

Fishing it

Fish it near the bottom, where the naturals live among weed, gravel and stones; the tyer in Orvis's Simple Scud video finds trout will take a scud in most places, above all on overcast days. Nick Thomas fishes his weighted Shwimp on a dropper for winter grayling on big rivers, and on its own in plunge pools on small streams. Weight decides the depth: the Simple Scud has none, the Deep Diving Shrimp has lead-free foil, the Shwimp a tungsten bead.

Sources