Size 2 hook, 1.5” body
This tiny mouse pattern is the result of low water conditions that forced us to focus on subtle presentations, a finesse retrieve, and most importantly, casting distance. When fish are in shallow water and spooky, you often need to land your fly within several feet of the fish. The Mini Mouse lands on the water with a satisfying plop that generates a lot of interest from opportunistically feeding fish. The legs on the fly are buoyant, and create an awesome dimpled outline that is very suggestive of food when viewed in the surface film from below. Because of the shape of the foam and hook, it’s very difficult for a fish to get away eating it, and the turned in point of the Kona UMS hook is incredibly good at retaining hooked fish.
When compared to my other larger mouse patterns, this one is a dream to cast. You can throw it well on a 4 or 5 weight. It is slightly heavier but turns over better than an average chubby Chernobyl.
Try dead drifting the Mini Mouse, giving it occasional small twitches to make the legs dance and create a vibrating ripple in the surface film, and watch the glow tab very carefully. More than any other pattern, trout slurp this fly with quiet confidence.
Don’t assume this fly is just for small fish, although it often draws a lot of strikes from the small ones when they are present. A lot of the biggest fish we caught on the White last season were on these tiny mice.