Brown trout mayfly - mousing! Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up a pleasant week spending time with our grandsons...knowing that once I got back home to Northern...

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up a pleasant week spending time with our grandsons...knowing that once I got back home to Northern Michigan there would be some night fishing to be done with the local mayfly hatch getting underway.

Sure enough, tonight was worth going out! The bugs showed up right on time as the night sky turned pitch black. I could see ringlets and ripples from the wake of insects on the water surface and the fish started to feed at a steady pace as I began to peel out some working line from my fly reel. I was mentally tired from the drive home and wrangling with heavy traffic in the metro region of the windy city today, so I chose an easy spot to fish from that has a couple of old casting platforms nested into the shoreline.

The river is 90 feet wide, and there is plenty of room for a back cast while leaning over the railing towards the river. There were 3 fish feeding in the area I could cover tonight. Knowing that the hatch might be brief, I had to get going if there was a chance of hooking any or all of these 3 trout.

Caught the first brown trout right in the middle of the river straight out...sweet and easy! Nothing big at 14 inches, but as we all say..."a fish is a fish!" The next fish was stubborn, and much farther out. Sixty five feet away in my estimation. I worked 3 different fly patterns over it and they were all refused. This was a big trout and I really wanted to see it in person! By the time I had run some favored fly patterns over the feeding zone this particular fish had lost interest in any more bug consumption.

The other trout, stationed a bit downstream, had been feeding right at the edge of the drip line of the overhanging brush across the river...about 120' away from my location. That one stopped feeding too, and the air went silent as just a trickle of new flies made their way down the current.

The hatch was over...and only lasted for about 15 minutes.

This scenario left me with one potential solution...start "mousing"! I waded out into the middle of the river and changed flies quickly to a 3 inch black Zoo Cougar pattern that fishes well to imitate a mouse when doped up with some floatant. In my head I was singing the lyrics from a song that the band Rare Earth called "Get Ready" as I made my first short cast across the river to sweep back in short strips and pauses. On the last pause the rod nearly jerked from my hand as the big bruiser that had stopped dining on mayflies switched to a new item on the menu...my mouse!

I felt the sting of the hook against the jawbone but failed to get a solid hook up. Aw bugger...blew it! No way this trout would strike again...even though I tried. I'm sure it sulked away thinking..."fool me once...but never twice!"

Waded downstream to where the other big brown had been feeding so I could make shorter casts. Nothing going on except for a small juvenile sized trout in the 10 inch range. He grabbed the mouse pattern and went berserk into the air. After a brief struggle a cute little trout swam into my hand and was quickly released after a rather grainy snapshot. I only heard the big trout from this haunt feed twice all during the hatch, so I was unsure what would happen when offered a larger meal. As it turns out...nothing...he was not interested tonight.

Awaiting nightfall while the fish take position into their various "hopeful" feeding runs...

Using an 8 weight home made fly rod tonight. A little heavy for the fish I ended up catching...but just right for the hefty browns that reside in these waters that will give you a line burn while pulling out the drag!

At a mere 10 inches, the smallest brown I have ever caught while mousing. This little fella was very aggressive!

saw1 Loc: nor cal Windsor

fishyaker wrote:

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up a pleasant week spending time with our grandsons...knowing that once I got back home to Northern Michigan there would be some night fishing to be done with the local mayfly hatch getting underway.

Sure enough, tonight was worth going out! The bugs showed up right on time as the night sky turned pitch black. I could see ringlets and ripples from the wake of insects on the water surface and the fish started to feed at a steady pace as I began to peel out some working line from my fly reel. I was mentally tired from the drive home and wrangling with heavy traffic in the metro region of the windy city today, so I chose an easy spot to fish from that has a couple of old casting platforms nested into the shoreline.

The river is 90 feet wide, and there is plenty of room for a back cast while leaning over the railing towards the river. There were 3 fish feeding in the area I could cover tonight. Knowing that the hatch might be brief, I had to get going if there was a chance of hooking any or all of these 3 trout.

Caught the first brown trout right in the middle of the river straight out...sweet and easy! Nothing big at 14 inches, but as we all say..."a fish is a fish!" The next fish was stubborn, and much farther out. Sixty five feet away in my estimation. I worked 3 different fly patterns over it and they were all refused. This was a big trout and I really wanted to see it in person! By the time I had run some favored fly patterns over the feeding zone this particular fish had lost interest in any more bug consumption.

The other trout, stationed a bit downstream, had been feeding right at the edge of the drip line of the overhanging brush across the river...about 120' away from my location. That one stopped feeding too, and the air went silent as just a trickle of new flies made their way down the current.

The hatch was over...and only lasted for about 15 minutes.

This scenario left me with one potential solution...start "mousing"! I waded out into the middle of the river and changed flies quickly to a 3 inch black Zoo Cougar pattern that fishes well to imitate a mouse when doped up with some floatant. In my head I was singing the lyrics from a song that the band Rare Earth called "Get Ready" as I made my first short cast across the river to sweep back in short strips and pauses. On the last pause the rod nearly jerked from my hand as the big bruiser that had stopped dining on mayflies switched to a new item on the menu...my mouse!

I felt the sting of the hook against the jawbone but failed to get a solid hook up. Aw bugger...blew it! No way this trout would strike again...even though I tried. I'm sure it sulked away thinking..."fool me once...but never twice!"

Waded downstream to where the other big brown had been feeding so I could make shorter casts. Nothing going on except for a small juvenile sized trout in the 10 inch range. He grabbed the mouse pattern and went berserk into the air. After a brief struggle a cute little trout swam into my hand and was quickly released after a rather grainy snapshot. I only heard the big trout from this haunt feed twice all during the hatch, so I was unsure what would happen when offered a larger meal. As it turns out...nothing...he was not interested tonight.

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up ... (show quote)

Well he didn't think he was so small.

Can't wait to see the pics of the big ones. Good luck.

bric Loc: Helena, MT

Wow FY, sorry about that big one that got away. Cool story and the mousing sounds fun. Thanks for sharing and good luck on your next trip.

NJ219bands Loc: New Jersey

Nice 👍

OJdidit Loc: Oak Creek Wisconsin

Seems like a great way to unwind from the hustle and bustle of Chicago driving.

flyguy Loc: Lake Onalaska, Sunfish Capitol of the World!

fishyaker wrote:

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up a pleasant week spending time with our grandsons...knowing that once I got back home to Northern Michigan there would be some night fishing to be done with the local mayfly hatch getting underway.

Sure enough, tonight was worth going out! The bugs showed up right on time as the night sky turned pitch black. I could see ringlets and ripples from the wake of insects on the water surface and the fish started to feed at a steady pace as I began to peel out some working line from my fly reel. I was mentally tired from the drive home and wrangling with heavy traffic in the metro region of the windy city today, so I chose an easy spot to fish from that has a couple of old casting platforms nested into the shoreline.

The river is 90 feet wide, and there is plenty of room for a back cast while leaning over the railing towards the river. There were 3 fish feeding in the area I could cover tonight. Knowing that the hatch might be brief, I had to get going if there was a chance of hooking any or all of these 3 trout.

Caught the first brown trout right in the middle of the river straight out...sweet and easy! Nothing big at 14 inches, but as we all say..."a fish is a fish!" The next fish was stubborn, and much farther out. Sixty five feet away in my estimation. I worked 3 different fly patterns over it and they were all refused. This was a big trout and I really wanted to see it in person! By the time I had run some favored fly patterns over the feeding zone this particular fish had lost interest in any more bug consumption.

The other trout, stationed a bit downstream, had been feeding right at the edge of the drip line of the overhanging brush across the river...about 120' away from my location. That one stopped feeding too, and the air went silent as just a trickle of new flies made their way down the current.

The hatch was over...and only lasted for about 15 minutes.

This scenario left me with one potential solution...start "mousing"! I waded out into the middle of the river and changed flies quickly to a 3 inch black Zoo Cougar pattern that fishes well to imitate a mouse when doped up with some floatant. In my head I was singing the lyrics from a song that the band Rare Earth called "Get Ready" as I made my first short cast across the river to sweep back in short strips and pauses. On the last pause the rod nearly jerked from my hand as the big bruiser that had stopped dining on mayflies switched to a new item on the menu...my mouse!

I felt the sting of the hook against the jawbone but failed to get a solid hook up. Aw bugger...blew it! No way this trout would strike again...even though I tried. I'm sure it sulked away thinking..."fool me once...but never twice!"

Waded downstream to where the other big brown had been feeding so I could make shorter casts. Nothing going on except for a small juvenile sized trout in the 10 inch range. He grabbed the mouse pattern and went berserk into the air. After a brief struggle a cute little trout swam into my hand and was quickly released after a rather grainy snapshot. I only heard the big trout from this haunt feed twice all during the hatch, so I was unsure what would happen when offered a larger meal. As it turns out...nothing...he was not interested tonight.

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up ... (show quote)

Morning, Yacker. A beautiful rod, a beautiful story, a beautiful fish, and a beautiful spot. Thank you for sharing.

bknecht Loc: Northeast pa

fishyaker wrote:

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up a pleasant week spending time with our grandsons...knowing that once I got back home to Northern Michigan there would be some night fishing to be done with the local mayfly hatch getting underway.

Sure enough, tonight was worth going out! The bugs showed up right on time as the night sky turned pitch black. I could see ringlets and ripples from the wake of insects on the water surface and the fish started to feed at a steady pace as I began to peel out some working line from my fly reel. I was mentally tired from the drive home and wrangling with heavy traffic in the metro region of the windy city today, so I chose an easy spot to fish from that has a couple of old casting platforms nested into the shoreline.

The river is 90 feet wide, and there is plenty of room for a back cast while leaning over the railing towards the river. There were 3 fish feeding in the area I could cover tonight. Knowing that the hatch might be brief, I had to get going if there was a chance of hooking any or all of these 3 trout.

Caught the first brown trout right in the middle of the river straight out...sweet and easy! Nothing big at 14 inches, but as we all say..."a fish is a fish!" The next fish was stubborn, and much farther out. Sixty five feet away in my estimation. I worked 3 different fly patterns over it and they were all refused. This was a big trout and I really wanted to see it in person! By the time I had run some favored fly patterns over the feeding zone this particular fish had lost interest in any more bug consumption.

The other trout, stationed a bit downstream, had been feeding right at the edge of the drip line of the overhanging brush across the river...about 120' away from my location. That one stopped feeding too, and the air went silent as just a trickle of new flies made their way down the current.

The hatch was over...and only lasted for about 15 minutes.

This scenario left me with one potential solution...start "mousing"! I waded out into the middle of the river and changed flies quickly to a 3 inch black Zoo Cougar pattern that fishes well to imitate a mouse when doped up with some floatant. In my head I was singing the lyrics from a song that the band Rare Earth called "Get Ready" as I made my first short cast across the river to sweep back in short strips and pauses. On the last pause the rod nearly jerked from my hand as the big bruiser that had stopped dining on mayflies switched to a new item on the menu...my mouse!

I felt the sting of the hook against the jawbone but failed to get a solid hook up. Aw bugger...blew it! No way this trout would strike again...even though I tried. I'm sure it sulked away thinking..."fool me once...but never twice!"

Waded downstream to where the other big brown had been feeding so I could make shorter casts. Nothing going on except for a small juvenile sized trout in the 10 inch range. He grabbed the mouse pattern and went berserk into the air. After a brief struggle a cute little trout swam into my hand and was quickly released after a rather grainy snapshot. I only heard the big trout from this haunt feed twice all during the hatch, so I was unsure what would happen when offered a larger meal. As it turns out...nothing...he was not interested tonight.

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up ... (show quote)

Great narrative FY, doesn’t get much better than targeting a single fish on top.

Fredfish Loc: Prospect CT.

fishyaker wrote:

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up a pleasant week spending time with our grandsons...knowing that once I got back home to Northern Michigan there would be some night fishing to be done with the local mayfly hatch getting underway.

Sure enough, tonight was worth going out! The bugs showed up right on time as the night sky turned pitch black. I could see ringlets and ripples from the wake of insects on the water surface and the fish started to feed at a steady pace as I began to peel out some working line from my fly reel. I was mentally tired from the drive home and wrangling with heavy traffic in the metro region of the windy city today, so I chose an easy spot to fish from that has a couple of old casting platforms nested into the shoreline.

The river is 90 feet wide, and there is plenty of room for a back cast while leaning over the railing towards the river. There were 3 fish feeding in the area I could cover tonight. Knowing that the hatch might be brief, I had to get going if there was a chance of hooking any or all of these 3 trout.

Caught the first brown trout right in the middle of the river straight out...sweet and easy! Nothing big at 14 inches, but as we all say..."a fish is a fish!" The next fish was stubborn, and much farther out. Sixty five feet away in my estimation. I worked 3 different fly patterns over it and they were all refused. This was a big trout and I really wanted to see it in person! By the time I had run some favored fly patterns over the feeding zone this particular fish had lost interest in any more bug consumption.

The other trout, stationed a bit downstream, had been feeding right at the edge of the drip line of the overhanging brush across the river...about 120' away from my location. That one stopped feeding too, and the air went silent as just a trickle of new flies made their way down the current.

The hatch was over...and only lasted for about 15 minutes.

This scenario left me with one potential solution...start "mousing"! I waded out into the middle of the river and changed flies quickly to a 3 inch black Zoo Cougar pattern that fishes well to imitate a mouse when doped up with some floatant. In my head I was singing the lyrics from a song that the band Rare Earth called "Get Ready" as I made my first short cast across the river to sweep back in short strips and pauses. On the last pause the rod nearly jerked from my hand as the big bruiser that had stopped dining on mayflies switched to a new item on the menu...my mouse!

I felt the sting of the hook against the jawbone but failed to get a solid hook up. Aw bugger...blew it! No way this trout would strike again...even though I tried. I'm sure it sulked away thinking..."fool me once...but never twice!"

Waded downstream to where the other big brown had been feeding so I could make shorter casts. Nothing going on except for a small juvenile sized trout in the 10 inch range. He grabbed the mouse pattern and went berserk into the air. After a brief struggle a cute little trout swam into my hand and was quickly released after a rather grainy snapshot. I only heard the big trout from this haunt feed twice all during the hatch, so I was unsure what would happen when offered a larger meal. As it turns out...nothing...he was not interested tonight.

Woke up in Chicago this morning while wrapping up ... (show quote)

Nice catching Yaker. Great story and pictures as well. Thanks for sharing with us.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

saw1 wrote:

Well he didn't think he was so small.

Can't wait to see the pics of the big ones. Good luck.

Thank you Saw1! That little guy really surprised me! Normally the small fish just "nudge" that big fly but this one was going for the moon!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

bric wrote:

Wow FY, sorry about that big one that got away. Cool story and the mousing sounds fun. Thanks for sharing and good luck on your next trip.

Thank you bric! My heart sank when the big strike failed to connect, but that is not unusual. The photos do not reveal it but there is a decent current, and even during a "pause" in the retrieve the fish sometimes just misses the sweetspot as the fly swings and tantalates in the flow.

When the water boils on a strike, it is hard to resist the temptation to set the hook immediately...and although I waited for the timing that I typically do, I may have set the hook too early. When fishing this way I like to do a "strip set", where instead of sweeping the rod tip in any side or upward direction...you simply wait a moment and then strip the line straight back to you. That way the fly stays "in-line" for the set and then you resume the fight in the usual way.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

NJ219bands wrote:

Nice 👍

Thank you NJ219! I hope I can find some new fish to target tonight, along with going back to where I left off last night!

Flytier Loc: Wilmington Delaware

Really nice write up. Looking forward to mire from you.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

OJdidit wrote:

Seems like a great way to unwind from the hustle and bustle of Chicago driving.

Thank you OJ! Yeah...I always dread going thru that region. Our area is so rural that I am way out of practice in driving with a "rod length" between cars and trucks...and at highway speeds that are unheard of where I live!

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

flyguy wrote:

Morning, Yacker. A beautiful rod, a beautiful story, a beautiful fish, and a beautiful spot. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you flyguy! I appreciate the compliment. This particular "build" is from quite a while ago and the rod was set up for bass and steelheading. It's a graphite blank from a 9 foot Fenwick and can flick a big fly a country mile when needed. It's great for mousing...but a tad heavy just to toss mayfly patterns.

I might bring 2 rods tonight for dedicated purposes. The other rod will be my trusty 5 weight which is a foot shorter. If you wade with some stealth, a person can actually get very close to these fish without spooking them so casting a long distance is not paramount.

fishyaker Loc: NW Michigan (Lower Peninsula)

bknecht wrote:

Great narrative FY, doesn’t get much better than targeting a single fish on top.

Thank you BK! Yes...and there have been past seasons where I kept working a single fish on many consecutive nights until I managed to find the right "trigger" fly! When you finally catch one like that, there is a tremendous satisfaction! I think we have all been there at one time in this scenario...with both fishing and hunting.