The Morrish Mouse is a popular pattern wherever big trout dine on rodents.
Photo by Spencer Higa
Yesterday’s video about casting mouse flies in Alaska—”Mighty Mouse II” from Fly Out Media—was a big hit, and several commenters said that they’d like to know more about the mouse pattern featured in the film. It’s called the Morrish Mouse, named after its creator Ken Morrish, who described his pattern thusly on the Flywater Travel website:
“I heard that on the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia, the big rainbows love mice. Most mouse flies are cute but not practical to fish for very long. Mine is a three-step fly with a back, a tail and a big profile of minimal mass that swims forever and can be cast on a light rod (5-weight).”
And as you can see in the video, it’s damned effective, as well.
Here’s a video from the folks at In the Riffle that walks you through tying the pattern. What’s nice is that you don’t have to be a master at spinning deer hair—something that many tiers struggle with—to create a good-looking Morrish Mouse. And you can trim the hair to any kind of profile that appeals to you. . .or the trout.
Morrish Mouse
Hook: Bass-bug hook (here, a Tiemco 8089), size 10.
Thread: Black, 6/0 or 140-denier.
Tail: Dark brown Zonker Strip, trimmed at front.
Back/head: Black 2mm foam, tapered at front.
Body: Natural deer body hair, trimmed top and bottom.
For future and similar type posts, a picture of the completed fly in addition to the video would be appreciated. I can’t always watch the video-like now-at work. Thanks for the info and effort.