Bristol Mouse

So last week I was talking on the phone to a fellow who guides in Alaska and although the conversation included alot of different items, eventually we discussed top water action for silvers and those beautiful rainbows I always read about. Gurglers and mouse patterns he said are the staple for early morning action and it is a truly amazing thing to experience he told me. He said you can see the wake of a fish come from 20 feet away to take it. Just cannot imagine. As far as mouse patterns, he told me that the normal one totally tied and trimmed with deer hair does not have a long life to it as the fish hit them hard and tend to tear them apart. He recommended the following pattern that he told me lasts three times as long and floats quite well when skated across the top...... Pretty much a Gurgler but with a head of deer hair....

Materials:
 

 
 
1. Start thread at the rear of the hook so the bobbin hangs at the hook point. He uses an up eye salmon hook - says it gives an upward lift when skated.
 

 
2. Tie in a muskrat zonker strip - length approx. equal to the hook shank by seperating the fur from the hide. Trim off the fur from the remaining hide and tie down towards the eye.
 

 

 

 
3. Cut a point on the foam strips which are approx. 3/8" wide and tie in.
You can buy the foam in sheets from any craft store, cut them into strips and superglue together for the right thickness as I've done here.
 

 
4. Palmer the thread to the rear - dividing the foam into 4 or 5 different sections. Super glue the hook shank prior to doin this.
 

 
5. Tie in the saddle/schlappen - whatever you prefer. Return the thread to the front, palmer the hackle forward and tie off. When tying in the hackle cover the tip the entire way to the front - following the wraps on the foam you made previously....as shown.
 

 

 
6. Pull the foam forward, cut to a point and tie in hard. Prior to doing this pull the hackle fibers down and superglue the top of the hook shank. He believes in "liquid thread" alot - adds to the durability of the fly.
 

 

 

 
7. Rest the thread at the start of the cone of thread that was created when you tied in the foam. Cut off a bundle of deer hair - comb out the underfur, stack it, and tie in - letting it spin.
 

 
8. Tie in another bunch of deer hair following the same as above. This time - cut off the tips and tie them in facing to the front.  To do this - work the thread to the front of the first bunch of hair. Position the second bunch on top of the hook shank - three wraps around and as you pull hard and up release the hair and it should spin. Take a few more wraps to secure. 6/0 thread should be strong enough. Lighter than that and it will most likely tear.
 

 
9. Now it's time to whip finish off and I found when working with deer hair at the head, it can be a pain in the arse to do it without trapping hair fibers. You need to use your fingers on one hand to pull back the hair while using the finish tool with the other. Problem is though you kind of need that one hand your using to clear the eye to hold the bobbin tension while spinning the whip tool. Here's what I do - and others may do it differently - If you have a rotary - most vices have somewhere to drape the thread off the bobbin - whether it be a screw or what ever. Start the whip finish tool while pulling off enough thread to go over that screw. Drape the bobbin over the screw and whip finish while using your free hand to clear the eye of deer hair. Kind of hard to explain - here's a pic. The weight of the bobbin gives enough tension to finish off.
 

 
10. Now's the fun part - (it's all a good time though!) Trimming the head. Everyone has their own way of doing it but I like to use a double sided razor blade - the kind you can bend between your fingers. Take the blade and begin to trim the head by sliding the blade from front to the back. A few trims with the scissors and there you have it.
 
Probably a good pattern for bass also.......
 

 

 

 
 
Finished..... only 3 doz. more to go.....
 

 
 

Nice tie, steely!
 
A little word of advice...trim the bunny strip very close to the hide.
IMO, the fly fishes and casts better with the trimmed tail.
Rubber bands work great for tails on Alaskan Mice/Lemming patterns.
 
Ironhed

that is a sweet little fly thanks for the tute.

great tie steely. i'm not one for bunching deer hair but you make it look easy with the blade. i'll have to give it a try. i'll use a leather tail though.

Love that - I'm just a novice tyer but this mouse looks much more durable than others I've seen. Alaska is on my bucket list.

ORIGINAL: Ironhed

+1


..........  Cast them right into the over hanging grass along steep banks, plop it into the drink and if a hungry 'bow is in the vicinity, hang on!  If you see a wake behind the fly, strip as fast as you can.  Make it look like the lil' rat is trying to get away.
Good luck!

Ironhed

Iron -
Thanks for the tip - gotta tell ya ...your comment here sent chills down my back...LOL!!!!!! And D-Nymph - Yeah I'll be taking lots and lots of pics.