The Morrish Mouse is the brainchild of Ken Morrish, an angler/writer/photographer from Oregon, who designed the pattern for the big rainbows of Kamchatka. (See our post on how to tie Ken’s original.) What makes the Morris Mouse so great is that offers a rodent-like profile in the water but isn’t that difficult to cast, even on a 5-weight rod. And as the video below demonstrates, trout just love the thing. Based on the videos and photos I see in my research for this blog, the Morrish Mouse has become far and away the most popular mouse pattern across the country.
In this great how-to video, Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions shows you how to tie a simpler, less messy version of the Morrish Mouse. The original pattern requires the tier to spin and flare several bunches of deer hair on the shank, but Tim replaces all that work with a wrapped strip of zonked pine squirrel. You lose some of the fly’s buoyancy, but Tim argues that he likes the fly to ride lower in the water anyway. So if you’ve ever been intimidated by mouse patterns, give this simple one a try.
Make sure watch Tim’s videos in full 4K resolution. You’ve never seen fly tying look so good.
Less Mess Morrish Mouse
Hook: Gamakatsu SP11-3L3H, size 1.
Thread: Brown, 6/0 or 140-denier.
Tail/Body: Brown Zonked Pine Squirrel.
Back: 2mm Brown Craft Foam.
Adhesive: UV-cure resin.
That’s the same Fly Joe Cermele calls the master splinter mouse.
It’s close, for sure: https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/the-lateral-line/how-to-tie-the-master-splinter-mouse-fly
I certainly had no intention of pirating Mr. Cermele’s pattern and yes the two are remarkably similar. For me, this pattern started as a Pine Squirrel Streamer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc7jJp4yaLU&t=8s (still my most favorite night fishing fly) then to make it more mousey I did directly pirate the foam back/lip from the Morrish Mouse, hence the name. If you see this Joe- I’m very sorry, I should have credited you and the Master Splinter as well. Rats.