Week of Mouse: Day 4

Kayak Smallmouth

My goal today was to get one smallmouth on a mouse. If you set your goal disappointingly low, expect not to have a spectacular trip. Here is my one fish of the trip:

I did nearly catch a fish that nobody would ever guess would eat a mouse pattern: I spotted a pair of really big carp tailing in close to shore (a sight I haven't seen for weeks) and, even though I had a perfectly good damsel nymph in my hat, I decided not to cheat. I tied on the smallest mouse pattern I had and got it saturated enough to sink an inch bellow the surface. I dropped it in front of the bigger of the two and lost my mind when it ate! I should have let it chew on it a bit, but I didn't and because of that I can't add carp to the Week of Mouse species list.