The REAPER RAT - A Topwater Night Fishing Fly
Hunting for two-foot-long trout on a lake in the middle of the night with a fly rod can be addicting! When these big fish begin slurping and slashing at the surface, it's time to go topwater. Short leaders and strong tippets are the rule for night fishing and a topwater fly that never sinks and makes as much commotion as possible is the ticket for these surface feeders.
One night, while fishing from an inflatable, I heard a fish break the surface in a watery explosion! It was within casting distance, so I quickly stripped in line and laid a cast within a few feet of the moonlit splash rings. A second later, my fly was slammed and my line went tight. It was a large brown trout. That trout put on a show, going aerial three times before he was netted. I was fortunate that my gear held and my brother was able to get a photo:
Aerial Brown
There are at least a hundred mouse fly patterns out there and they all catch fish, but some of the lakes we fish have prolific muskrat populations, so the design of this fly has taken on a different twist. Muskrats are a lot bigger than mice, but logic tells me that muskrats have babies, and muskrat babies have to learn to swim, probably near the shores by their burrows. Female muskrats begin to give birth in March and have litters of up to ten young. They can have up to three litters through the Summer and the young muskrats begin to swim in just a few weeks. This reasoning motivated me to design a topwater fly to imitate one of these nighttime trout snacks!
Juvenile Muskrats (left), and baby Muskrat (right)
The REAPER RAT
The Reaper Rat uses some non-traditional materials so if this offends you purists out there, now would be a good time to bail. This fly design is based on performance and results and less on tradition. Some of the components used to tie this night fishing fly are stolen from its wildly-effective subsurface brother - the “Midnight Reaper”. Tying instructions for the Midnight Reaper can be found at:
How did I come up with the name Reaper Rat? “Reaper” comes from the legs and rattle carried over from the Midnight Reaper, and “Rat” is for Muskrat. The same dressings are used for both flies, but the Reaper Rat uses a one-piece tail instead of marabou and does not have a weighted head. The rattle and bead chain legs are components of both of these flies.
An earlier version of my Reaper Rat utilized a foam back (Moorish Mouse style) to keep the fly above water, but this version uses a different method to keep the fly afloat.
Brian Westover, a guy whose business, Westwater Products, is located about two miles south of me in Pleasant Grove, invented a product called the “Thingamabobber”, which is actually an indicator, but is also ideally-suited to keep a large fly from sinking. This ¾” mini air pontoon is lashed to the top of the hook shank, and is not visible by fish (especially at night!), because of the fly’s bushy body. The dubbing and bead chain legs provide a perfect baby muskrat profile on the long shank hook.
Bottom profile view of the Reaper Rat
The air-filled Thingamabobber keeps the fly riding upright, keeping the rattles and legs in the surface film where their movements create fish-attracting sound waves. A simple 3/16” rubber cord creates a functional tail.
OPTIONS TO MAKE THE FLY LOOK ALIVE:
There are two options I use to dirty up this fly and make the baby muskrat look alive. Mice don’t swim UNDER water, but muskrats do! Instead of flailing their legs like a swimming mouse, the muskrat mainly uses its tail for propulsion to glide smoothly on the surface and to escape predators. Using a curl tail plastic worm for a tail is an option that simulates that slow swimming tail. When a muskrat senses danger, it flees by quickly ducking under and swimming away underwater to escape. Adding a FlyLipps® plastic lip under the hook eye causes the Reaper Rat to dive when retrieved quickly, simulating a crazy realistic fleeing response.
MATERIALS:
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HOOK - AHREX Trout Predator, Long - TP615 #1/0
- Hook Alternate – Daiichi 2461 Streamer Hook, # 2/0
- THREAD - VEEVUS GSP 100D, Black
- TAIL - 3/16" rubber beading cord, Black
- TAIL Alternate – CULPRIT 6” Culprit Worm, Black
- TAIL (Plastic Worm attachment post) – 1” quilting pin with 5mm round head
- LASH CORD – 30# POWERPRO braided fishing line
- FLOAT – WESTWATER PRODUCTS Thingamabobber, ¾”, any color
- RATTLES – 2 - 10 mm long, 2 steel ball glass rattles
- BODY Dubbing - MONTANA FLY COMPANY Arizona Simi Seal MEGA Dub, Firecracker
- BODY Dubbing - Alternate – SPIRIT RIVER UV2 Seal-X Ice Dubbing, Black Ice
- BODY fiber - STEVE FARRAR SF BLEND, FBL 45, Black
- LEGS - 1.5mm Steel Ball Chain, Black
- LIP - FlyLipps® Clear Plastic Lip tied behind the hook eye
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Tie two 10mm glass rattles side-by-side to underside of hook as shown. Encapsulate the rattles with thick UV resin. Tie a 3 ½” long rubber tail. Cut the tip of the tail at an angle. (Tail should match the body length of the fly).
2. ALTERNATE TAIL: Tie a quilting pin to the back of the hook, creating an attachment post, leaving a ¼” gap to secure the tail. Cut a plastic worm to the desired length and punch a pilot hole in the center of the worm with a bodkin. Push the pilot hole end of worm onto the bead of the pin. Tie off loosely with thread - not so tight that it cuts through the worm.
Tail piece of plastic worm used and bodkin making pilot hole
3. Add the FlyLipps® lip (if used).
4. Locate two pairs of bead chain over hook as shown, 3” chain in the back and 2 ½” chain in front. Lock in place with thick UV resin, then lash down with thread.
5. Create a body by building a double-thread dubbing loop using dubbing fiber mixed with 2 ½” lengths of SF blend fibers. Spin it up, brush it out, and wind from the tail to just before reaching the first set of bead chain legs, constantly preening the fibers back. Tie in a section of doubled up PowerPro, leaving a 3-inch length right against the dubbing. Slip the float onto the PowerPro and lash down tightly. Apply more superglue to the thread windings.
PowerPro secured and float lashed down tight to dubbing
6. Continue wrapping the dubbing forward to the head, constantly preening the fibers back, taking care not to trap the legs. (You may need to make a second dubbing loop). Whip finish and brush out the body with a Velcro hook brush. Apply head cement.
Completed Reaper Rat, ready to fish
Wet Reaper Rat profile, 5 inches total length
Paul Laemmlen is a fly fisherman, outdoor gear designer and wildlife artist from Cedar Hills, Utah. His gear is marketed at www.sgfieldcore.com and his artwork can be found at www.lakestreamstudio.com.