Night Time Mousin' (Part 1)

Without a doubt, my answer would be, “Mousin’ after dark during the summer months.”
And the question? What’s the shortest, quickest most reliable route to catching a 20-inch brown trout with flies, in the river?

Some might argue the answer should, instead, be fishing the hex spinner fall, or ripping streamers. I would heartily disagree.

While I have, in fact, caught a number of big trout (up to 25-inches) during the day by jerk-stripping streamers, I certainly wouldn’t call that the most direct route to big browns.
Just for starters, fishing during daylight hours goes against the brownRich Mousin': Tie on a mouse when the hex spinners don't fall. trout’s natural inclination toward nocturnal predatory activities. Although I have not yet to do so, one day I will probably go back over my fishing journals to get an exact comparison. I’m confident the numbers will bear me out, when I say that daytime streamers probably take 3 times the effort when compared to night time mousin’.

While certainly productive and exciting, the hex spinner fall is way too fickle to be considered the “most reliable route” to a big brown. Be honest, now, how many times did you go out in late June, expecting a great spinner fall, just to be disappointed? It happens to me more times than I care to remember. But, even if the spinners don’t show up, the big bruisers are there. Shorten your leader, tie on a mouse imitation and you’re in business. My guests and I salvaged spinner fall disappointment THREE times this past year, using that exact formula. If the spinners won’t fall, I say let them eat meat . . . mouse meat.

OK, now, grab your head lamp and a wide mouth landing net and let’s take a look at the basics of night time mousin’. Since I’m basically a wading fisherman (as opposed to drift boat fishing), my casting comments will have to be modified, if your boat is actually drifting with the current.

THE SEASON
My mousin’ season starts with the long-anticipated arrival of the hex spinner fall. I love the hex spinner fall. And, when I head out to the river in mid to late June and even early July, I’m equipped with hex spinners and a six foot leader. But, by 11:15pm or so, if the hex haven’t dropped, I’m switching over to mouse meat.

After the hex season is over, I’ve experienced a lull in the mousin’ activity as well. Can’t quite figure that one out, but for me, action picks up again about the 3rd week in July. August is gangbusters for September Brown: Attacked a Low Rider on September 28night time mousin’. Things continue into September, and slowly wind down. In 2008, my last mousin’ brown was caught on September 28. From Late June to the end of September . . . that’s a lot of opportunity to catch a big brown.

THE WATER
If you’re going to be swinging a large bulky surface bug, trying to make a large, visible wake, you want water that doesn’t have a lot of surface ripples. So, look for pools and deeper runs. Waist deep water is ok. I’ll look for pools and runs with waist deep to chin deep water. There needs to be a slow current, as well. The current will catch the belly of your fly line, and help to pull your mouse across the stream.

EQUIPMENT
Floating fly line, either weight-forward or double-tapered will work. Put it onto a reel with a good disc drag, and mount it onto a six or seven weight fly rod, that is 8 to 9 feet long.

All my fly reels have backing on them, but you won’t EVER need it for mousin’. First of all, with 12 to 20 pound tippet, you can afford to have the drag cranked down pretty tight. You won’t lose many battles unless the hook pulls out, or you didn’t tie your knots correctly. One thing is for sure, don’t let that bruiser peel off enough line that he takes you around a bend in the river. Set that drag pretty stiff. But, remember, if you set it too stiff, his violent fighting at close range could enlarge the hole in his jaw, and the hook could work its way out. So, just like the three bears said, set the drag “just right”.

Browning Microblast Headlamp, Black Headlamp Light 3712121

I use a two stage leader. The butt section is 18 inches of 15 pound test. Using a triple surgeon’s knot, I join an 18 inch section of 12 pound test. That’s it. I use the two stage set-up for the simple reason that I want a “built in” breaking point in my leader, should I hang it up into the brush on the far side of the stream.

In the next installment, we’ll look at flies, the cast, the swing and the battle.