Varied Tactics for Catching Trout at Night

My distaste for the social media trend of "mousing" is not a secret. Of course, I haven't exactly prevented the perpetuation of that trend with this blog or my writing elsewhere. I enjoy catching trout on big dry flies that imitate rodents and amphibians. But what I enjoy more is understanding trout behavior, and only slinging rodents at night doesn't give much of a picture of nocturnal trout behavior. It isn't the best way to get the most or the largest trout at night either. If an angler wants to get the whole picture, sure, they should fish mice. But they should also tight line, swing wets, drift and strip streamers, fish dry flies by audio, and creep pushers along gravel shelves. I consider myself skilled at each method and I apply each one conditionally, and sometimes use three or four different tactics in a single night. Flexibility is important. 

On a recent night outing I utilized mice, streamers, and wet flies and caught fish on each. It was classic conditions for a night bite. The water was low but not too low, and warm but not too warm. There'd likely been a hatch or spinner fall at dusk. American toads were calling from the slack areas and mice had been crossing the road on my way to the river. Unfortunately I'd be fishing water that lacks wild trout in targetable numbers, but I wanted to stay practiced. 

I started out with a Master Splinter to see if the fish would be in a mouse mood at all. Some nights, and often some years, they aren't remotely as interested. Other years they go wild any time good conditions present themselves. This seems to be a good year. Fish came to the mouse shockingly frequently, as stocked trout do some nights. Its rarely if ever like that with wild fish. 

The oldest, and quite possibly most effective method for catching nocturnal trout on the fly is swinging wet flies. Methodologies don't differ that much from the same fishing style done in daylight, though the flies are typically bigger. On this night, winging a wet fly produced the largest fish. 

The streamer went on last, a black Marabou Muddler. That took its share of fish as well. Often, that is the most effective large fish method at night. What is the takeaway here? Be well versed. Don't follow the crowd, it will just come at your own expense. Mousing is fun and it does work sometimes, but it isn't everything. 

Until next time, 

Fish for the love of fish.

Fish for the love of places fish live.

Fish for you.

And stay safe and healthy.

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