Back to Fly Tying - Mouse Fly

2015 is here! Time to get Fly Fishing!

What a great new adventure - fly fishing the famous rivers of the North West.

I'm getting my fly tying station and rod building station setup. I have some new flies to tie and two bamboo fly rods to repair.

 I did some practice casting today with my 8 weight graphite rod. I still got it - 100 foot casts no problem. That is great for salt water, but these rivers need different types of casts, namely the roll cast and the spey cast. Many of the rivers are tree lined, so the standard long distance salt water double haul cast will just get you hung up in the trees. The roll and spey cast don't require room behind you to cast, although you are not going to get a 100 foot cast out of them either.  I can poorly roll cast and and working on my spey cast - have  to master them both ...

I have a wide variety of fly rods that will work up here - from 5 & 7 weight bamboo rods, 7 & 8 graphite rods, and the "Broomstick" a 9 weight fiberglass rod so heavy, stiff and fast it will challenge you to cast it - but will cast a monster fly long a distance into a strong wind. 

These waters require a completely different mindset of flies and how to fish them. Some flies are so small (#22 hook) to something a large enough to see like a mouse. The picture is my first attempt to tie mouse flies.  Trout and Large mouth Bass love hitting mice on the surface. Great action!