mouse fly.

gfen

gfen

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Apr 8, 2007
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mouse.jpg

i was bored, so i turned out a mouse fly and went for it last night... but i'm curious as to if anyone's ever pulled this nonsense off.

should i swing and slowly strip it, or two-hand-strip it as fast as possible across the stream? strip it upstream, strip it downstream, along the banks, what?

i know there's healthy sized fish in this park that live under the undercut railroad ties that line the bank, and i wanted a place where i'd be able to walk the stream without fear of falling and breaking a limb, but i wonder if that light was helpful or hindering.

Unfortunatly, the part i really wanted to work was occupied by a couple of ultraskeevy methheads who appeared to be dunking worms for hope of a big dinner. maybe i'll try this again tonight, though.


nightfishin.jpg
 
Hey gfen. first off nice pattern. second, this has been my fly of choice on two trips to the arctic. The key for the fly is to let it hit the water pretty good. let the fish know something just fell in. I then do a series on short but deliberate strips to act like the mouse trying to get away. fish it near the banks and near any type of structure like loggs and boulders. Its amazing how hard trout smash that fly. Have fun !!
 

Night time. day time, any time?

I know ltos of people do this sort of thing, but it was a unique c oming together of ideas that made me want to try it. Ripping streamers over a rock ledge adn watching fish swing at it, my brother in law talking about his pet flying squirrel that fell out of a tree onto him, and the slow, painful walk ever an essential skunk past ideal banks and under lights.

Its a beast to throw it, I was using a 7/8 wt and having a hell of a time heaving it, but the thought of something hammering it out of the black was motivating.

Again, we'll try it a time or two more before its relegated to the bass box.
 
I did a great deal of that type of night fishing on the West Gallatin,near Bozeman Montana.
Medium size stream ,fairly shallow,similar to a lot of Eastern streams.
Floating line,cast across stream,and strip the line in about the speed a mouse would swim.simple.
Grease the fly and have several to keep it floating high.
I used a Dan Baileys fly that they no longer offer[really only a great night fly].
It was a hybrid like many western ones.I tried but can't find a picture of it.
Like a big tent wing caddis,similar to the stimulator but no tail.
Fished it on the full moon cycle[don't buy the dark bs.]
Many 50 to 70 fish nights.
As I mentioned many times before-beaver tail slaps will wake you up -abruptly lol.
This is low,clear hot summer night fishing.Wouldn't jump the gun.
Go get them killer.

 
The motion is really what gets them to strike, so the more of a disturbance your fly creates the better you will do. You basically fish it exactly like you would fish a bass popper. I pull a thick sheet of black foam over the back (i've seen this pattern listed recently as "moorish mouse"). If you do that the fly will move more water and tends to fish better the more waterlogged it becomes.

The phase of the moon is probably a bit overblown. The moon hits the water differently depending on the mountains and trees, so you can almost always find shaded places to fish. Its basically just like fishing during the day. If there is a bright moon, the fish can see almost as well as they can in the day, and you have to be more careful about approaching them.

I'm convinced that fish use changes in light to hunt. I've often hooked fish immediately after a train passes when fishing on the little J. The train shines a little bit of light on the water when it passes, and I've had too many hookups immediately after this happens for it to be a coincidence.

Don't go out at night with just a mouse pattern. Sometimes they like the mouse, but many nights you'll do much better fishing under the surface. My best producing night flies are the woolly sculpin (size 2) and giant heavily hackled wet flies (size 1/0). The mouse is 3rd. Usually black is the best color by far, but sometimes they like white. Carrying other colors is probably unnecessary because the physics of vision make it very difficult to see color well in low-light conditions.

Also, if you ever want to night fish in central PA, send me a PM. I go out a lot and I don't mind company. Its hard to take good photos in the dark by yourself.
 
Fished it on the full moon cycle[don't buy the dark bs.]
Many 50 to 70 fish nights.

I cant speak for out west, and would much rather do this during the light of a full moon. But that hasnt been my experience here in the east.
At all.

(neat tie gfen)
 
I know-we have had this one before-couldn't resist[lol]-never night fished for trout in the East but the western guides swear by the full moon.
 

Gave it a run again tonight, because I could. Its amusing, but I'll probably give up 'til summer.

Its oddly fun to chuck flies in pitch black because its all about feel, but I'm not going anywhere but the local park 'coz I'm not going to undertake night wading. :) Almost had to, though, just as I was telling myself how well I could throw the full length of line with the rod, the top two sections flew off into the dark. Thankfully, the hook caught 'em.

One fish to a hook with half a turkey's worth of marabou on it, so hey, it works.
 
I did not read the entire thread, but to answer your question try a strip twitch retrieve. If you search Kelly Galloup on youtube he shows that method although it is with a streamer, but its the same concept.

I have yet to fish a mouse pattern seriously, but its on my to-do list.
 
watch


Pay attention around 3:36.
 
I've been using mouse flies for years and consider them great fun (although I've had mixed results with catching fish). I get more bass on them but have taken some good sized limestone browns on mice. I like them for specialty presentation situations where I want to get a large fly back under a tree or bridge. The mouse, if given enough slack, will drift back under cover and can then be retrieved back on the surface. I usually use a steady retrieve down and across - the goal being a noticeable "V" wake. Mice are a common, readily available prey species year round on PA streams and I don't think it should come as a surprise that big trout will hammer 'em. It's not uncommon to catch a large (over 12") wild trout and discover a mouse tail protruding from his mouth or have one show up when a fish is killed and cleaned. They really do eat these critters.
 

FI,

How big and style of hook do you use? I think the one I opted for was a size 8 or 6 TMC popper hook, but I cannot remember the size.

While looking around, I found the "Minki Mouse," which looks killer. I don't exactly have any mink lying around to use, but I don't see why rabbit or squirrel won't fill in nicely.
 
It doesn't have to look like a mouse,just needs to make the V wake on the surface.
For nite fishing anyway.
Floatable body material with a palmered hackle,trimmed and a down wing like a muddler minnow which will work if dressed.Trim the head in V shape,or no head..Would use dark color which stands out better for a surface fly.Mice don't do the wooly bugger strip so a steady retrieve best.
 
I like to swing and skitter mice flies on the Lackwanna under the 7th Ave Bridge next to Redner's Market.

Those browns HAMMER it. But sometimes you wake up the homeless guys under the bridge. Pack yer 9mm.
 
I saw FishIdiot fishing a mouse fly a few years ago at the JAM. It is something to behold. I've always told myself that if I head to Alaska for their world famous mouse eating rainbows, I'd put an order in ;-). Maybe he'll be nice enough to post a picture/recipe.

 
gfen,

Were you using a steel leader? I bet that would be a nice little snack for a hungry gator.
 
Here's an example of my mouse fly. It's tied on a long bend plastic worm hook which is cut and the shank modified/extended and bent upward at the eye. The goal is to get the mouse to stay upright on the surface. At the base of the large hook bend is several wraps of lead wire. Under the hair body is a foam under wrapping that keeps the mouse bouyant. The rubber legs help with the balance too. Obviously, an effective mouse pattern doesn't need to be this realistic to catch fish but I enjoy experimenting with fly design and realistic patters have an aesthetic appeal to me. A lot of time and experimentation has gone into this fly and I rarely fish without a couple of these critters in my fly box.
 

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Ill take four please. :-D
 

You cut and rebend the hook?

That's a level of attention, dude.
 
That is a stellar mouse pattern. Can I buy one from you?
 
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