modern Michigan dry fly · date unknown
Maddin's Foam Scorpion
Also called Scorpion, Building 50
Likely origin Maddin's own account (Flylords) and his own tying tutorial (Renzetti) agree he designed it; no source gives a year.
History
The Scorpion started life as a triple-layer foam ant. Maddin kept adding to it, more foam layers, rearranged rubber legs and a mix of synthetics, until it stopped looking like any one insect. A friend teased the early version with the nickname "Building 50", after a local psychiatric hospital, and the name stuck around in Maddin's telling.
He built it to land quietly instead of slapping the water, and to read as whatever a fish expects to see on top: a moth, spider, beetle, frog or small mouse. He has fished it for trout, bass and coho, and it has caught on with warmwater anglers in particular. Galloup's Slide Inn sells it as an erratic fly that can be fished on the surface or pulled just under it on a sinking line.
Materials
| Hook | Ahrex TP605 streamer hook, 1/0 in Maddin's demo; tied from about size 12 up to 4/0 depending on the target fish |
|---|---|
| Thread | 6/0 Veevus, or any thread that won't cut foam |
| Tail | Bucktail with a few strands of flash |
| Body | 3 mm foam, layered |
| Hot spot (optional) | 3 mm foam with a contrasting 1.5 mm core |
| Collar | Lively Legs crustacean brush (0.5 or 1 inch) or 2 inch streamer brush |
| Legs | Round rubber legs |
Sources
- Kittleson, B. "Built to Fish: The Functional Art of Russ Maddin." Flylords Mag, August 7, 2025.
- Maddin, R. "Tying Tutorial: Russ Maddin's Foam Scorpion." Renzetti blog.
- "Maddin's Scorpion." Galloup's Slide Inn (product page).
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Original recipe cards for many Michigan patterns are kept at the Michigan Dry Flies archive, built by the late Tom Deschaine.