Fishing Mice

[TLoomis]

So ever since I started going to school and fishing better water, I've always heard of people ranting and raving about fishing mice at night. Well I finally got all my ducks in a line and let me say this...I'm going to be doing A LOT of this haha. I don't know if I just happened to go at a good time, but it was insane! I landed 5 nice fish, and either missed or rolled 10 more. I couldn't believe it....talk about exhilarating!! Blind stripping a mouse across a hole in dead silence then all of the sudden...WHAM! Chaos haha. A few times I even saw the wake off their back in the moonlight chasing the mouse.

Here's the nicest fish I landed last night. I had a much bigger one on for a little but he got off because I was trying to get a leaf untangled from my fly line during the strike.... That one's going to haunt me haha

So the moral of the story...go out and fish mice people!

 

[salmonoid]

Night fishing opens up another front to catching fish, particularly larger browns. Try again in about three weeks when there is no moon and see if your hookup rate changes (although the spawn may begin to influence activity by then). Even with no moon, your silhouette is noticeable (a fact driven home last weekend as I was crouched streamside, looking up at the sky, and realizing that where I was standing earlier on the bridge three feet above me made my body super high-contrast against the sky). So your presence is going to be even more detectable with more light. That being said, I've fished full moon and caught fish too, and watching the take in full moonlight is plenty exhilarating. But so is fishing under pure starlight.

What mouse pattern did you use?

 

[crs2006]

Nice fish, man. Mice are awesome. Not just at night. Every once and a while when Im not moving fish on streamers I'll switch over to a mouse just for kicks. I usually get at least get one to go after it.

Also a ton of fun, chuck a mouse into bass pond and two hand strip it. They hit those things like it owes them money. It's one of the few flies I've seen that will make a bass break from its cover and actively run it down in the middle of a sunny day.

Gah, I need to do some night mousing now...

 

[Fishidiot]

Mice will definitely catch fish (or at least draw a lot of strikes if not a lot of hook ups). And, as pointed out, they work during the day too.

 

[AndyP]

TLoomis - nice fish ! What time of night did you go fishing ?

 

[BrookieChaser]

It has been on my list for awhile now to try a mouse pattern.

Nice fish man!

 

[milbug]

I've been a long time fan of the mouse in the dark, but have never tried it outside of the hot months of summer. I always chalked up night fishing as a Memorial to Labor day activity. Any comments on how late into the fall one can expect success at night?

Definitely agree that when there is less moonlight I've been more successful. Also have found that I tend to do a little better when the water is up just a touch after a rain fall. This may be due to the fact that a lot of time I'm on spring creeks with weed beds, and a little bit of water height can help get the fly above the mess.


My favorite mouse is the white bellied mouse made of foam and rabbit. It was featured in Fly Tier about 3 or 4 years ago. The pattern is on the Fly Tyer website (here), but the article with full directions is very helpful.

I log about 5 -10 nights a year on some very popular streams....and have yet to cross paths with another angler. Although I did scare the @!#@! out of some kids camping a few years back....

 

[crs2006]

I've thrown them as late as mid October, and as early as the beginning of March. Honestly I bet you could do pretty well consistently with them all the way until we start getting a sustained frost.

I know of guys who kill it with big streamers through January, I bet that there arent many big fish that will pass up a mouse if they can get an easy shot at one during that time too.

 

[Chaz]

What! Mice have now taken up fishing?

 

[TLoomis]

Thanks everyone! Yeah the moon was out, but I think the cloud cover helped a lot. There were also some lights from buildings casting some light, but it didn't seem to affect it.

salmonoid wrote:
What mouse pattern did you use?

The pattern I used, believe it or not, could not have been more simple. Dark brown zonker strip (thin) for the tail, and a spun deer hair body (brownish grey). That's all....nothing fancy about it! No ears, no eyes, no legs, nothing.

Also, I only tied the body about the size of a grape, so it was imitating a little mouse. The bigger ones I had with me did not have any action

 

[Crawdad31]

Nice fish my dude...getting away from the musky I see..I like to call it a sanity day! It's refreshing to catch fish isn't it? HAHA. Looks like a lot of fun. Im going to have to add this to my list along with the white fly hatch..gotta love night fishing man, started a few years back with top water largemouth then wipers at night..just awesome to be working a lure and then hear the splash and feel the take!

 

[TLoomis]

Crawdad31 wrote:
Nice fish my dude...getting away from the musky I see..I like to call it a sanity day! It's refreshing to catch fish isn't it? HAHA. Looks like a lot of fun. Im going to have to add this to my list along with the white fly hatch..gotta love night fishing man, started a few years back with top water largemouth then wipers at night..just awesome to be working a lure and then hear the splash and feel the take!

Yeah man!!! And yes, it's been nice to finally catch fish again after a long summer of busting my *** on the lake for musky lol. I think the musky have gotten me into fishing bigger flies too. I never streamer fished before, but the last month that's all I've been doing. Either that or mice. Nothing beats it! Caught 5 beautiful fish today fishing a sculpin pattern. Hate to blow this thread up with pictures but this brookie has me giddy! He hit it 3 times before he actually got the thing. Couldn't believe it

 

[FiveWeight]

Chaz wrote:
What! Mice have now taken up fishing?

Tiny, tiny little SimmS waders and -5 Weight rods. I still don't know how they thread the tippet on those tiny, tiny little nymphs. I've seen um trying to fish with corn already too but, they can't stop eating it.

 

[salmonoid]

I have not convinced myself that the browns I've caught at night are keyed in on mice, rather than just keying in on a larger moving object that represents a good net positive expenditure of energy to them. So, with that being said, the fact that you caught the fish on a zonker/deer hair combo sans eyes, and legs isn't too surprising. In fact, I think the eyes (and for that matter, a mouse that is tied exactly like a real mouse) are designed more to catch the fisherperson than the fish My criteria for a good night fly: it pushs a lot of water, it makes a good thwap! when it hits the water, and it has something that makes it look like it is alive when it moves through the water. On one stream I fished, I did observe a large rodent (small rat size) paddling around the surface of the stream and absolutely would have loved to see a big brown smack it. Probably wasn't going to happen, since I had shown a spot light on it, but it clearly represented a tasty morsel for something. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't have the presence to turn a cellphone camera on and capture it. Another anecdote passed onto me by a board member is that on one stream that I have night fished, he spotted a mouse drowned at the bottom of a pool.

 

[Crotalus]

TLoomis wrote:
The pattern I used, believe it or not, could not have been more simple. Dark brown zonker strip (thin) for the tail, and a spun deer hair body (brownish grey). That's all....nothing fancy about it! No ears, no eyes, no legs, nothing.

Also, I only tied the body about the size of a grape, so it was imitating a little mouse. The bigger ones I had with me did not have any action

I tie my personal mice the same way, no sense wasting time on pretty eyes, ears and noses. I don't tie mine small though.