Nothing is more exciting than watching a colossal trout come up and eat your mouse pattern. While technically, mice aren’t a hatch, it is worth heading out and trying to catch a few big trout when the trout are into them.
The fishing is usually done at night in the middle of summer as this is when the mice are abundant. All you need is a strong headlamp, a fly rod, a few mice flies, and a buddy willing to venture out with you, and you could be in for an incredible night of trout fishing.
Fishing mouse patterns are simple, but a few tricks should be adopted to ensure better success.
Fly Fishing Gear to Fish With a Mouse
Rod
Most mouse patterns are generally quite large; they have to imitate rodents. So, a heavier rod weight is recommended. A wt7 fly rod with medium to fast action is the best.
This type of fly rod has enough backbone to roll the line and heavy pattern over. It will also allow the angler to punch a headwind and get some distance on their cast.
Reel
The fly reel is rather essential for this type of fly fishing. Remember, you are casting a mouse fly around, and the only trout that will eat a mouse fly is a BIG trout.
Big trout pull hard, so you must have a fly reel with a sound fly reel drag system that will hold and release the line smoothly. As an angler, the last thing you want is to lose a big brown trout because your fly reel jammed.
You don’t want anything to fail when you add the night fishing element.
Match the reel to the fly rod weight and spool the reel with a floating line of the same weight.
Line
Generally, floating lines are used for mouse fly fishing. Mouse flies all float, so nothing else is needed.
A weight-forward line is best, and if you can get a line with a heavier head, this will help turn that large mouse fly over. Look for a ‘rocket taper’ or ‘shooting taper.’
Tippet
Tippets used for fly fish with mouse patterns should be heavier than average for a few reasons.
The general casting zone will be close to the structure and potential hangup areas, so the heavier tippet allows the angler to break free without snapping the line.
The second reason is that most mouse fly fishing would be night fishing, so the trout won’t see the thicker tippet 2x-1x to shy away from. If you are fishing in the daytime, then lighter tippets are recommended 3x-4x.
Fly Fishing Mouse Patterns
Structure
You will find big fish in the structure. Working the structure will get the trout’s attention, and if there is a fish holding in the area, chances are they will smash the mouse fly; even the picky trout will give in to the structure’s hitting of mouse flies.
With a few casts, make sure you hit or land the mouse fly near the structure, whether a log or a deep Eddie covered by grass from the bank. Trout will hold in these areas and prey on whatever swims by.
If the mouse fly is fished from the shore bank into the water, making a plop as it lands is even better. Many aggressive fish fall for this technique.
Casting
When casting, stopping the forward stoke midway will make the rod tip flex down, cutting the line’s path. This will force the fly pattern to plop in the water. This is a good tip when fishing a mouse fly.
Pulling the line to double haul cast when casting with a longer line will help roll the more enormous fly patterns over. This is a great technique to practice and versatile in all aspects of fly fishing, especially when fishing with larger patterns and setups.
Line placement
Line placement is essential for the retrieval. It is best to keep the fly line up and, for the most part, off the water, especially for those leader-shy brown trout. The idea is that the form below the mouse pattern is the only silhouette seen, not the heavy line leading to it.
Setting the hook
The takes or eats can be significant, so strip set when you strike. Don’t do the classic trout set and lift your rod; you will miss your fish! The hookup rate is doubled when you hit this way.
Down and the swing
Working the structure from the bank or if you are on a boat and casting to the shore, the angler should always cast slightly up and allow the patterns to swing across and down before the short strips are started.
The down-and-swinging method is very popular on the river sections and can produce some great fish. Mice patterns should imitate the exact mouse movements, and this is why the swing works so well; no mouse can swim directly across a river without being washed down a little. Again, fishing the fly as it would naturally swim is the key.
Stripping
Stripping needs to be fast and varied—short stripes into long strips. Again, a mouse won’t naturally hang around on the water; it’s not normal. As anglers, we should think about and use these things