After Dark Predators: Fly Fishing with Mouse Patterns for Trophy Brown Trout
Tommy Lynch
Fly Fisher, Fly Tier, Guide
★ ★ ★ ★ ★When the sun goes down, big brown trout come out to hunt—and few flies trigger more violent takes than a well-fished mouse. In this episode, Michigan guide Tommy Lynch breaks down the art and science of fly fishing with mouse patterns. We cover mouse fly design, rods and lines, presentation tactics, reading water at night, and how to safely fish after dark. If you want to target your biggest trout on purpose, this episode delivers the playbook.
Just a few of the questions asked and answered during the interview:
- What is it about mouse patterns that triggers such aggressive strikes from big brown trout at night?
- Are trout actually keying on real mice, or is it more about sound, silhouette, and disturbance?
- What time of year do you find mouse fishing to be most productive?
- Why do anglers target nighttime browns with mouse patterns, when subsurface steamers can be really effective at night and have much higher hook-up percentages?
- Are there particular geographic locations where nighttime mouse pattern fishing is most productive?
- What features do you look for in a great mouse fly—materials, buoyancy, tail, legs?
- Do you prefer foam, deer hair, or hybrid mouse patterns, and why?
- How does color matter at night—dark vs. light vs. natural tones?
- What’s your go-to retrieve when fishing a mouse pattern after dark?
- Do you prefer skating, waking, or subtle twitching—and when does each shine?
- What are the most common presentation mistakes anglers make with mouse flies?
- How do you “map” a piece of water during the day to fish it effectively at night?
- What rod, line, and leader setup do you recommend specifically for mouse fishing?
- What safety considerations should anglers think about before fishing at night?
