Of Mice and Men (and Cutts)

Every fisherman needs his own bucket list in the world of angling. It is that list to show you are not just concerned about whether you catch them anymore. I have developed this list because I realize more and more what an expansive sport fly fishing is. It is a sport that attracts the Naturalist, the Technician, the Artist, the Recreationist, and the Philosopher, just to name a few. And so the bucket list helps me see fly fishing from a new lens of reality and for new motives. It keeps the sport fresh for me. It keeps me in that wonderfully challenging place called The Learning Curve. I'd like to think I'm getting to the point in my fishing days on Earth that fishing is about more than just bragging rights. There will always be a bigger one that just happened to get away. There will always be someone who has better skills.

But what about HOW you catch them? Does that matter? To this fly fisherman...yes, it does matter.

And speaking of "hows", how many people have caught large cutthroat trout on this fly?

Don't ask me how this thing looks like a mouse, but apparently it does.

I haven't heard of many stories of people who have. In case you were wondering, this is not an oversize caddis on steroids that grew a tail, despite it's looks. Rather, it's a size #1 Mouse. Stories of lurking, predatory trout thrashing the surface to actually feast on a floundering mammal have no doubt thrilled my imagination. What would that experience really look like and feel like as a fly-fisherman?  I have wanted to know that answer for a few years now and have tried to make it happen...but to no avail. Whether I was un-knowledgeable on gear, or lacking confidence on the technique, or lacking the right conditions, or all of the above, I have never had as much as a nibble while going after trout  with mouse.

Until Saturday night.

Matt Brown called me and I called my nephew Josh Hegewald and we had a assembled a party of 3 to go hit Strawberry Reservoir. The weather was absolutely ideal for fly-fishing: no wind, very warm temps (especially for November at 8000 feet!), and golden light at dusk reflecting off water and foothills in all directions. Being able to pick Matt's mind on gear and technique and conditions was exactly what I needed. This fine fly-fisherman had already caught several big trout on mouse patterns, so this was long ago checked off his bucket list.  I feel like relying on his experience made the difference for us that night. 

His biggest and best piece of advice was powerfully simple and simply powerful. "You've got to really believe that you're going to catch  a fish this way." Good stuff... I took that to mean that you've got to fish with an eye of faith. Sounded familiar.

Preview of what's to come.

15 minutes into our casting from the shallow mud flats near the Indian Creek inlet, the first trout suddenly shocked me and "swirled" my fly as I jolted it in.  Note that I did not say he bit the fly, because he certainly didn't. To my surprise, there was no thrashing.  In this swirling motion around the potential meal, the fish makes an attempt to spook the mouse, nudge the mouse,  stun the mouse,  play with the mouse...who really knows? After the swirl, he did take a fleeting slurp at the fly, but I entirely missed him due to setting the fly too hard and too soon.

I soon learned from Matt that this technique requires waiting until the fish has turned it's head before setting the hook. A good 2 seconds - which felt like 2 minutes - of waiting is required after the fish has taken the fly before making the set. Otherwise, you will miss them almost every time. Not setting the hook when you see the swirl was actually one of the hardest things for me to do that night - talk about fighting your instincts!

But with renewed confidence that maybe we could actually catch a fish on our mouse patterns, we moved north around the inlet bay to some deeper waters. After missing a few fish, Matt finally landed a nice cuttie in the net. Even though the swirl-take was subtle, the fight after was plenty strong.


A fat 18 incher.

Yes that really is a mouse in the mouth.

Josh soon followed with a nice cutt of his own. Although it was on a streamer rather than a mouse, it was still a beautiful fish...especially since it was his first fish he ever caught on a streamer. Again, the HOW matters...

Josh was still sporting that lucky "Hope for Hegewald" wristband!

Nice work Joshie!

After missing 3 swirling fish, I finally landed my own cutt on the mouse pattern. I was surprised at how subtle the take was for such a large meal. Picture a fish slurping at a gnat on the water and you will get a sense of what it was like seeing him suck down the mouse.


Yes, I was shocked to catch this way.

I wish I was a mouse-eating trout sometimes.

All in all, it was one of my most memorable evenings ever for Mousing for Cutts. We didn't catch our limit, and we missed a bunch of slurp-takes. But it was totally worth it. So it was not a night of quantity fishing, but certainly one of quality fishing. I can see mousing for big predator fish on other lakes and streams already.

This one won't be crossed off the bucket list, but rather circled!

Fish on.

A gorgeous evening for Mousing.