Mousing is not something most people do casually. For those of us who really dig fish gobbling up theses little kamikaze's, its a full time commitment. I cannot even begin to tell you how much preparation goes into every mousepedition I've been on and it's all for one reason, I know how big a fish that's casually eats a screaming rodent pattern can be. Bringing me to my point, the Trout Bum's new venture "Haus of Mouse" could not have made more sense to me and when he called me to ask if I would come on board it didn't take me long to get excited, especially when you have seen what I have seen.
Facing the summer doldrums this year I took on what seems to be an annual undertaking. With trout fishing slowing down during the summer heat I decided to do something new this year, fish a way I have never fished, pursue something I have never been interested in. The one fish that caught my fancy off the bat was without a doubt the Musky. Being the fisherman that I am, I am not capable of pursuing anything in a liesure manner so I took on a partner in my new pursuit and the journey began. We learned rather quickly that to fish for these beasts successfully , you needed more than a few good flies and high hopes so what started as a way to pass time during the summer turned into months of research. I dug through countless articles, spoke to tribesman, read newspaper reports, called locals, bought books, equipment, and spent hours going over maps and arial photos.
Eventually the day came when we thought we were armed with the information and gear we needed so we gathered ourselves and were finally on our way to fish for these beasts armed only with what little information we could find and an understanding that we was more than likely not going to even see one, especially chasing them on the fly.
Arriving at the put in later than we would like but full of hope and dreams we started pounding the water with determination. I can't lie, after three or so hours I was begining to resign myself to the fact that the next nine hours of the float would be no different and and hour later I found myself lighting up a spliff and daydreaming during my turn on the paddles, when my thoughts were interrupted by Mike shouting at the top of his lungs "FOLLOW, FOLLOW, FOLLOW!" I turned around just in time to see a cruie missle at least 12 feet long (rule of three) charging after his fly only to dissappear under the boat. My good friend Mike than began to figure 8 the best he could sitting down in a canoe holding a nine foot rod and that is when the unthinkable happened, the fish actually ate the fly. It was the most violent earth shattering take I have ever seen and I can honestly say I am hooked for life. To make a long story short, throughout the remainder of the day we managed to hook six more fish! The following pictures explain the rest of my story.
Although that is not a mouse hanging from this fishes mouth I wanted to post this photo because it is an identical fish to the one that did eat the scuba mouse only an hour before, of course I didnt get a photo but any musky that eats a fly is badass anyway.
