Excellent article. I meant to reply sooner, but got sidetracked. I fish San Juan worms on most tailwaters with great success, especially when the water is just a bit off-color. I have fished with scuds and sows for years now. I was turned onto sowbugs on the Provo River in Utah years ago and it is still one of my favorite go-to flies for that particular water. I'll be fishing the Big Horn in a couple of weeks and will have a arsenal of sows for that trip. As for scuds, they have become my specialty due to a particular spring creek that I fish most of the summer and fall months. I have tied them in a variety of shades of olive, olive/gray, tan, and amber, with the amber version being the most productive. ANd then there is the Mysis shrimp that comes out of the outflow of many dams and their tailwaters. Colorado is famous for it's tailwater fisheries such as the Taylor where the trout grow to gargantuan sizes by gorging on Mysis shrimp. I just love a good seafood smorgasbord!

Here are my two favorite scud patterns:

The amber version:


...and the olive version:


Here's a pic of a beastie Brown we caught last season out of my favorite spring, and you will notice all of the amber colored scuds in it's mouth. Some would say they were that color because they've been in the fish's stomach, but when we washed them out of the fish's mouth, they all swam away...


Thanks for a great article.

Kelly.

Kelly.