Mice of the fly variety....

[chauchey]

So I've been listening to Ask About Fly Fishing, and on alot of their alaska type interviews, the guides/pro's talk about using mouse patterns for fishing trout on rivers. I was wondering....

Does anyone fish small mouse patterns on the stillwaters in the Interior of BC? Has anyone tried it for Dolly's on the Skagit? Heck, has anyone here fished a mouse pattern before?

[nebc]

Yes sir...for northern pike as well as bull trout from Great Slave Lake nwt west to Whitehorse YT and south to Dawson Creek BC.

It is a lot of fun, however I do use other patterns such as tube fly streamers as well.
I tie the mouse patterns close to their real size and not really realistic...just to give them the idea, and naturally cast to areas where pike may be waiting to ambush anything that moves and entices.

[btree]

I tried it a few times on the peace river up near Hudson's Hope with no luck, but a friend of mine has caught massive fish with mouse patterns.

I had better luck with similar sized flies on a really deep sink tip that were supposed to be a 6 inch trout or whitefish - either way, the lakers and bullies couldnt resist.

I think for Bullies, you need to get on the water at or just before sunrise if you want any top water action. They are a bit photophobic (afraid of light - so to speak).

[chauchey]

thanks for the replys guys! I'll try tying some up for next year if I hit any lakes with pike in them. So nobody fishes rainbows with mice then? Around the Kamloops-Williams Lake area for example...

[j_dog]

Fly fishing with a mouse pattern would be pretty cool, I haven't done it but it would be a nice experience. I found this youtube video a few days ago that won the '09 Drake Flyfishing Award for the best clip. At min 3:40 they show a huge trout full of mice...pretty cool.

Here is the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pOOMpFW_8

[chauchey]

Fly fishing with a mouse pattern would be pretty cool, I haven't done it but it would be a nice experience. I found this youtube video a few days ago that won the '09 Drake Flyfishing Award for the best clip. At min 3:40 they show a huge trout full of mice...pretty cool.

Here is the clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4pOOMpFW_8

Thats what I'd love to get into, but I was wondering if anyone fished mice between say...Vancouver and Williams Lake?
Sweet vid though. That was a pretty crazy shot of all those mice in that fish!

[eagledays]

As long as you have the gear to sling them.

4,5,6,7, weighters need not apply.

[eagledays]

Or use a very small mouse.. insect like.

[parbuster]

I've fished mice patterns in Alaska for rainbows and in the Yukon for Pike. It is one of the greatest feelings to experience the attack on one of your poor little mouse flies.

I've tried fishing a small mouse pattern on our Interior lakes in shallow water near the shore but have had no takes.....a few followers that are more curious than anything else.

[nebc]

On the Peace River the only place I have caught fish with a mouse pattern was downstream of the Taylor bridge in slower back channels sight casting to pike that we were lucky enough to spot. Most of the time just casting in various lakes to areas where they were hiding waiting to ambush anything that swam or moved was how we caught them.

I have used larger tube fly patterns (minnows) on the Peace for bull trout and rainbow as well, however you have to pick your spots as fish are not everywhere on the Peace and are concentrated in a few specific areas. The better fishing for Bull trout is in late June and in August on streams like the Chowade River although quad and 4X4 are needed for access. The Pine and Sukunka are not too bad at times either.

Some of the better bull trout fishing was on the Liard and Dease Rivers, where it mattered very little what you were using as long as it moved and they could see it.