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Blog
November 15, 2009
Mousing the Driftless Area
A friend of the shop, Scott Thorpe is collecting information for an article on fishing mice in Wisconsin. I know that there are a ton of you rodent heads out there, so lets share some stories and tactics for mousing in the Driftless.
Below is the shop's letter to Scott.
"
Mousing in the Driftless is absolutely a viable tactic. People are doing it from spring through the end of season with pretty good results.
With the abundance of food and habitat for mice (corn fields, soybeans, barns, meadows etc) it is rare that during a fishing day that we do not run across a mouse or two walking from spot to spot. As most people who have fished the driftless area can attest, there are large fish that do not seem to bite during the day on standard bugs. Tossing a mouse to them will get a big fish interested for sure (although we have better luck with big leeches and streamers). Fishing can be difficult as you have to know where the big fish spots on small creeks are, and find those in complete dark, while dodging hissing raccoons and trying not to trip over bankside willows. We prefer to fish mice attached to a 5' sink tip leader as standard deer hair mice float way to high on the water. If you have ever seen a mouse swimming it is mostly submerged with the exception of its head. Sinking a size 10 deer hair mouse just below the surface film pushes a heavy wake which imitates a natural mouse (match the hatch) as well as attracts fish. The other thing to keep in mind is to fish across stream as much as possible as natural mice do not swim upcurrent well, and tend to panic in the water and try their hardest to get to shore.
Probably the most shocking thing we encounter is the number of fish that go after mice. We have landed everything from foot long fish to some monsters.
The standard deer hair mouse pattern works well, and we also fish a articulated mouse pattern with a deer hair head, and a wound rabbit strip body. More movement and sits in the water a bit more naturally."
Check out Scott at Scott Thorpe Fly Fishing
Below is the shop's letter to Scott.
"
Mousing in the Driftless is absolutely a viable tactic. People are doing it from spring through the end of season with pretty good results.
With the abundance of food and habitat for mice (corn fields, soybeans, barns, meadows etc) it is rare that during a fishing day that we do not run across a mouse or two walking from spot to spot. As most people who have fished the driftless area can attest, there are large fish that do not seem to bite during the day on standard bugs. Tossing a mouse to them will get a big fish interested for sure (although we have better luck with big leeches and streamers). Fishing can be difficult as you have to know where the big fish spots on small creeks are, and find those in complete dark, while dodging hissing raccoons and trying not to trip over bankside willows. We prefer to fish mice attached to a 5' sink tip leader as standard deer hair mice float way to high on the water. If you have ever seen a mouse swimming it is mostly submerged with the exception of its head. Sinking a size 10 deer hair mouse just below the surface film pushes a heavy wake which imitates a natural mouse (match the hatch) as well as attracts fish. The other thing to keep in mind is to fish across stream as much as possible as natural mice do not swim upcurrent well, and tend to panic in the water and try their hardest to get to shore.
Probably the most shocking thing we encounter is the number of fish that go after mice. We have landed everything from foot long fish to some monsters.
The standard deer hair mouse pattern works well, and we also fish a articulated mouse pattern with a deer hair head, and a wound rabbit strip body. More movement and sits in the water a bit more naturally."
Check out Scott at Scott Thorpe Fly Fishing
Jason Brandt - 2009-11-19 08:58:29
spoke to the people at the driftless angler while down in viroqua for a fishing trip and they asked if we were going to go mousing. i had heard of it but thought now would be a great time to try. I purchased a few deer hair mice and took to the stream later that night. Using the faint light still left in the valleys and some good luck, I managed to catch two decent size browns on a mouse. I found out that taking the mono weed guard off allowed for better strikes and hookups ~Jason
Scott - 2009-11-19 23:15:13
Sink tip....really? Never would have thought of that. I have fished mouse pattern a couple of times with out any fish brought to hand, but I did have one awesomely vicious strike. Anyone ever hear of a snake pattern? I have heard about people catching fish with snakes hanging out of their gills or thoarts. Only four months until early season starts!!! Scott
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