Monday, September 27, 2010
Of Mice and Men
9:39 AM | Posted by
Cassie Designs
The old man held a wooden shingle with a long string attached. The spinning rod next to his side had a large curved hook attached to the line. Next to it was an aluminum box that contained some live mice. The entire scenario interested me--but not as much as the two big brown trout he had sitting on the grass next to him! I had often fished the same river but fish that big were rarely caught there, especially two in the same evening. I wasn’t very old but I had been fly fishing for a number of years and could see he was doing something different. And those two fish were too big to ignore. I asked him how he had caught these fish and he told me to sit down and he would show me. Smiling, he asked, "You know how to run a spinning reel?" I admitted I did.
I was shocked at what happened next! The man took a mouse out of the box and stuck the hook through the skin on its back. He then placed the mouse on the wooden shingle and put it out into the river. He let out the string attached to the shingle as the current pulled it across to the other side. Suddenly he yanked the shingle out from under the mouse! The mouse started swimming hard against the current but it pushed him toward the corner of the hole where foam gathered on the surface. Almost immediately I saw a large brown trout rise slowly to the surface and mimic a great white shark attacking a seal. The attack lasted only a few seconds before the old man drove the hook into the brown’s jaw.
Now I was looking at three huge fish and knew I had to try catching one of those browns. But I wanted to use my fly rod. I had taken a class on stacking and spinning deer hair so the next day I got a big hook, a long piece of chamois for a tail, and spun a lot of deer hair around the hook. I cut it down to make it look like a mouse. I will never forget what happened when I threw my deer hair mouse out into the same hole a few nights later. A big brown, just like the old man’s, came to the top and tried to kill my deer hair mouse! As I set the hook, I was converted to deer hair mouse fishing. Immediately there was a change in my entire philosophy of fly fishing and what I could catch fish on.
Since my first mouse experience more than 20 years ago, I have used deer hair mice to catch trout in the west, large and small mouth bass all over the country, Dolly Varden, sockeye and Coho salmon in Alaska. I hope to add peacock bass to that list in the next few years.
I can hardly wait for warm spring days when I can drive over to Mantua, Utah, to fish my mice along the edge of the shallow lake. This kind of fishing reminds me of hunting elk: you stalk the fish, looking for prime habitat in the vegetation along the banks that might hold a large fish. When you find the right spot, present a mouse pattern so it looks like a struggling mouse (use mouse patterns with weed guards!). I hold my breath almost every time the fly hits the water because you never know when a big take will happen. One of the longest breaths I ever held occurred while fishing under Flaming Gorge dam at night. With the reflection of the lights from the top of the dam showing the v-wake as I stripped my mouse across the river, I noticed every detail as the fish came up to devour my mouse. When a big fish takes a mouse, the splash sounds like someone did a belly flop!
I used to fish a beautiful creek in Indiana that was full of small mouth bass. Right around sunset they would jump completely out to the water to take my mouse. I would laugh every time it happened. The biggest fish I caught in Indiana was on a mouse pattern. Fishing at dusk, casting my mouse pattern into the fading light, hearing the belly flop splash, and my fly was gone! I set the hook hard and was surprised at the size of the fish that came out of the water. It jumped a number of times and each time my friend and I gasped at its size. When I finally landed the bass, it weighed over eight pounds and was 25 inches long!
Try a mouse pattern; in the right water and the right conditions it will change your philosophy about fly fishing forever!
Here a few tips for fishing a mouse:
• Fish in the late evening or, even better, at night
• Use a weedless mouse pattern if you are fishing for largemouth bass (or any deer hair poppers) to get it deep into the vegetation and trees along the edge of the water
• Use a heavy short leader; the fish are not looking at your leader when they take a mouse--they are looking for a big meal. (A 2X leader about 6 ft long works best.)
• A 6 wt rod with weight forward line works best to cast these large patterns for the big fish
• Use mouse patterns with eyes when fishing for bass
• Keep your rod tip down next to the water and set your hook with a direct yank of the line with your left hand and not by lifting your rod. You’ll get better, deeper hookups which are critical with big fish.
Chris Thomas
Chris Thomas is a fly fishing instructor and guide at RoundRocks Fly Fishing. He specializes in helping students and clients learn how to catch BIG fish!
I was shocked at what happened next! The man took a mouse out of the box and stuck the hook through the skin on its back. He then placed the mouse on the wooden shingle and put it out into the river. He let out the string attached to the shingle as the current pulled it across to the other side. Suddenly he yanked the shingle out from under the mouse! The mouse started swimming hard against the current but it pushed him toward the corner of the hole where foam gathered on the surface. Almost immediately I saw a large brown trout rise slowly to the surface and mimic a great white shark attacking a seal. The attack lasted only a few seconds before the old man drove the hook into the brown’s jaw.
Now I was looking at three huge fish and knew I had to try catching one of those browns. But I wanted to use my fly rod. I had taken a class on stacking and spinning deer hair so the next day I got a big hook, a long piece of chamois for a tail, and spun a lot of deer hair around the hook. I cut it down to make it look like a mouse. I will never forget what happened when I threw my deer hair mouse out into the same hole a few nights later. A big brown, just like the old man’s, came to the top and tried to kill my deer hair mouse! As I set the hook, I was converted to deer hair mouse fishing. Immediately there was a change in my entire philosophy of fly fishing and what I could catch fish on.
Since my first mouse experience more than 20 years ago, I have used deer hair mice to catch trout in the west, large and small mouth bass all over the country, Dolly Varden, sockeye and Coho salmon in Alaska. I hope to add peacock bass to that list in the next few years.
I can hardly wait for warm spring days when I can drive over to Mantua, Utah, to fish my mice along the edge of the shallow lake. This kind of fishing reminds me of hunting elk: you stalk the fish, looking for prime habitat in the vegetation along the banks that might hold a large fish. When you find the right spot, present a mouse pattern so it looks like a struggling mouse (use mouse patterns with weed guards!). I hold my breath almost every time the fly hits the water because you never know when a big take will happen. One of the longest breaths I ever held occurred while fishing under Flaming Gorge dam at night. With the reflection of the lights from the top of the dam showing the v-wake as I stripped my mouse across the river, I noticed every detail as the fish came up to devour my mouse. When a big fish takes a mouse, the splash sounds like someone did a belly flop!
I used to fish a beautiful creek in Indiana that was full of small mouth bass. Right around sunset they would jump completely out to the water to take my mouse. I would laugh every time it happened. The biggest fish I caught in Indiana was on a mouse pattern. Fishing at dusk, casting my mouse pattern into the fading light, hearing the belly flop splash, and my fly was gone! I set the hook hard and was surprised at the size of the fish that came out of the water. It jumped a number of times and each time my friend and I gasped at its size. When I finally landed the bass, it weighed over eight pounds and was 25 inches long!
Try a mouse pattern; in the right water and the right conditions it will change your philosophy about fly fishing forever!
Here a few tips for fishing a mouse:
• Fish in the late evening or, even better, at night
• Use a weedless mouse pattern if you are fishing for largemouth bass (or any deer hair poppers) to get it deep into the vegetation and trees along the edge of the water
• Use a heavy short leader; the fish are not looking at your leader when they take a mouse--they are looking for a big meal. (A 2X leader about 6 ft long works best.)
• A 6 wt rod with weight forward line works best to cast these large patterns for the big fish
• Use mouse patterns with eyes when fishing for bass
• Keep your rod tip down next to the water and set your hook with a direct yank of the line with your left hand and not by lifting your rod. You’ll get better, deeper hookups which are critical with big fish.
Chris Thomas
Chris Thomas is a fly fishing instructor and guide at RoundRocks Fly Fishing. He specializes in helping students and clients learn how to catch BIG fish!
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