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The minky mouse fly pattern originator Guenter Feuerstein
GF Minky Mouse

The Incredible Minky-Mouse

originator: Günter Feuerstein

When I fished this mouse for the first time at a Russian River in Polar-Ural a massive grayling attacked it right away. I had some fantastic days fishing for grayling with it and on Kamchatka the wild rainbows went mad for the Minky-Mouse!

There are some fly patterns which I have created in my life that catch significantly more fish than others. One of them is the Minky-Mouse (see variants in the picture on the left). I named it after the main material which I used. The pattern is made of mink fur and foam only. So it is very easy to tie!

It showed exceptional performance when I was fishing with some of the best Russian fly fishers and fly tyiers in Polar Ural for trophy grayling. It outdid every other mouse pattern with ease. My Russian friend and fly tier Igor Tyapkin has meanwhile tied a whole box of them. From below a fish can only see the mink fur but no other material. That makes them forget about their natural prudence. The Minky-Mouse swims perfect(see picture on the right) and it never sinks. Even in fast water it stays on the surface although it does not float like a balloon but swims lower in the surface like a real mouse does . If you shiver your rod tip when retrieving it the typical V-form on the surface appears pushing little waves to the sides. This pattern brings even those fish to the surface which are usually difficult to catch. There is one very important trigger point which is common to all mouse patterns - the tail. If it is too short, or if a trout takes it away, you will have no more strikes.

Try the Minky-Mouse also in Kamchatka! The big wild rainbows will love it! However, this incredible mouse pattern does not only work in wild and unspoiled areas. Even at the heavily fished Lake Oostvoorne near Rotterdam/NL the Minky Mouse works great for the big trout of these lakes even when the fish are really lazy.

If you want to fish a mouse pattern, this is the one and only fly you should try!

The Minky-Mouse - fly tying material (originator G. Feuerstein)

hook:

long shanked streamer hook

underbody:

one piece of pre-cut foam(3-4 mm thick) is tied in on top side of the hook from the front back to the barb

body:

Foam wrapped with mink fur(cross cut) from back to the front. While doing that the other half of the foam piece is clapped down, tied in and secured 4-5 times on its way back towards the front.
variant: Stony's Mouse (use other short haired fur instead of mink)

head:

rest of the foam is folded backwards and tyied down as head or 45° forwards for fast water

tail:

slim piece of mink fur

Tying instructions for the Minky-Mouse

  1. Tie in the tail (alternatively you can tie in a little silver ring at the height of the barb in order to re-attach a new tail as trout often break them off).
  2. Tie in thin(3-4mm) mouse shaped foam* from barb to eye and back to barb.
  3. Wrap one segment of mink from back to front (2wraps).
  4. Flip foam over the first mink segment (from back to front) and secure with thread.
  5. Continue with repeating the steps 3 and 4 until you have reached the desired length.
  6. Fold back top section for head (or leave it pointing 45° forward for very fast water) and tie it down
  7. Shape the tail by cutting the tips of the hairs down to the fluffy part.

*Advice:

Take a piece of paper, fold it and cut out the form of a mouse body with a V-shaped extension at the head end(which you can flip back or let it point forward before tying down the fly) depending on the target water. This paper negative serves you as a model to cut the foam. The thicker part of the foam is tied down level with the barb. You can also cut the part tied down on the shank parallel if you like)

Stony's Mouse

This special mouse pattern can also be tied with other fur(you can use otter or beaver instead as no water should soak into the hair). Please avoid using hare or rabbit zonker strips as they do not repell water.

If you use any other material than mink it is not a Minky Mouse any more it's just called Stony's Mouse.


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Copyright © Günter Feuerstein