While it had never been my experience that the original Waking Mouse was prone to deep hooking fish, stories from guides in Kamchatka said the fish liked it so much that they were at times taking the fly deep and sadly bleeding out. As a result, some of the guides there were turning to Jeff Hickman’s Mr. Hanky (which is another great Umpqua pattern). At the same time, Kamchatka guides were asking for an even larger pattern so I hit the vice and made the 2.0.
This is a large profile, easy to cast fly with an upturned trailing hook designed to reduce mortality. Fish this with a high rod tip and steady subtle pulse/chug. This is also a great night fishing pattern in both still waters and rivers. Also note that because it has such a large profile it can twist and fly in an unruly fashion. I often trim the deer hair down on the front half making the profile more egg shaped (skinny head and fat ass) to make it less unruly.
