Hydrospider:
Now that I am settled in, I have begun to put the time in the books and maps, learning the water ways and how they are managed, making the appropriate contacts, and working to figure out how to catch a brown beast, while kayaking the river or creeks. I have the right boat and drift anchor system, and now I have the right paddle, but catching a brown trout of legendary size does not come easy, even in these legendary waters. I plan on spending a lot of time snorkeling the rivers and documenting as well as I can, to focus on confirmed monster haunts. But even after doing all the homework and prep, I still need to present the right bait to lure one of these beasts from a deep hole or undercut. The town fishing shops and breakfast spots are loaded with big mounted brown trophies. Ive made some connections with local anglers and they are starting to talk a little bit. It seems that a lot of these wall giants were caught with somewhat suspicious tactics. As I delved deeper into the fishing culture here, it will come as no surprise that I ended up in the bars where anglers really begin to get confessional. I knew that sculpin and crawdads were targets for big browns and I have traps at the ready, BUT my conversations with locals have begun to reveal that it is live mice that have caught the real monsters. So, Ive started collecting the mouse imitators and web based info on the tactic. It really didn't hit me to really use live mice until my dog started spotting them in my apartment. Im not really sure how I feel about putting a hook into mouse, yet.
Has anyone fished with live mice before? Suggested ways to rig? Im not even sure if its legal here yet but I will find out soon. The NWKA search engine brought up a fun mouse trap thread. Anyway, I am curious if others have decided to rig a live mouse and send it swimming since there is no doubt that big trout eat mice.
DWB123:
Please don't put a hook through a live mouse. It's torture of an emotionally intelligent creature.
Make it sporting, ethical, and go artificial! http://www.cabelas.com/product/SAVAGE-GEAR-D-RAT-BAIT/2371175.uts?productVariantId=4935882&WT.tsrc=PPC&WT.mc_id=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=04643814&rid=20&gclid=Cj0KCQiAgZTRBRDmARIsAJvVWAuuXCooZOIyj1YJe-DIpevQrkkQceGr1zMbYwePn-7FSoNrIdBuD6oaAtryEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Trident 13:
I want to know if there's a line of mice committing suicide in the water or if you need a sidearm in case you meet a big brown sneaking up on you in the woods!
If you can't hookem directly, which I admit would be a bit tough unless you had some serious leather gloves, you might make a living making mice hardnesses. Not a peta friendly bait I'm sure. Here's one on hooking frogs...
This is some serious time wasting stuff! Mouse flies
I would think a .380 large enough and easy to carry if baits go out of hand, so to speak https://www.hatchmag.com/blog/why-you-sling-mice-trout/771871 I'll go back to work now, good luck.
Matt M:
I can't say I've ever heard of live mice as a fishing bait, however I have caught several good size largemouth on rat and frog imitations so I would imagine it's a similar thing with the browns. I am not sure I could stomach trying to hook a live mouse to be used as potential bait, quite possibly having it just drown in the process.
crash:
I've caught catfish with mice before. Get dead ones from the freezer at the pet food store. They use them to feed snakes. No idea if it's legal where you wantto fish though.