The Morrish Mouse and the Mighty Kanektok

Scientifically speaking June 21st should be the height of summer in Alaska but after having traveled to the 49th state dozens of times over the past 40 summers, July is when Alaska's summer glory shines brightest. It is the month, when to varying degrees, all species of pacific salmon are present, when the fireweed is the most brilliant, when aquatic insects are most likely to hatch, when the sockeye stack deep in the pools and day by day darken, eventually turning the rivers brilliant red. It’s when the bears begin to gorge, and when the water warms pushing the rainbows to move aggressively towards their next meal. It is also the best month of the year to fish a skated mouse imitation, which is a form of fishing that I hold particularly dear.

In 2002 I created the first prototype of the Morrish Mouse for a trip to Kamchatka. My goal was to make a fly that could be cast on a 5-weight rod (though a 6-weight is my mousing rod of choice), and one that would float all day without getting waterlogged or pulled under by heavy current. The originals had tan foam backs but when they went into commercial production the foam was switched to black due to availability. Ultimately, this made the fly even better as it became easier to see in low light and overcast conditions. To this day, the Morrish Mouse is the simplest fly I have ever designed for the commercial market with just three steps, a tail, a foam back and trimmed spun hair body. It is a pattern that simply works and has endured the test of time and influenced a great many flies that have followed in its footsteps.

Late June and all of July is arguably the best time to entice Alaska's voracious leopard-bows with a Morrish Mouse and one of the great rivers for this technique is the Kanketok river. The Kanektok is near the northern boundary of the rainbow trout's native range and a remarkable fish factory. It has all five species of Pacific salmon, rainbows, Dolly Varden and even grayling at its headwaters. When it comes to a river to introduce anglers to the abundance and variety of Alaskan fishing, the Kanektok is hard to beat, especially in July. With skilled guides, different species can be specifically targeted. Big king salmon with Spey gear, and plentiful hard-fighting chum salmon can be found on the soft insides of bends. Dolly Varden are found in specific pools where currents converge, and rainbows hiding near wood structure and undercut grassy banks are exciting targets in the vast network of the middle river's side channels.  

Ideally, the mouse fly plops down impossibly close to the bank, the angler raises the rod tip and begins to pulse the little critter with its head upstream and across the current.  If you really want the full effect, you can add an audio element, with little squeaking sounds or dialog like "oh help me, I can't swim, I'm scared, there's something chasing me!" While it could be argued that this is technically a monolog, I consider it a call and response, with the response being a violent, green-backed, red-striped, slashing take that lets you know you have been heard.