Aug 17, 2019
What is Year of the Mouse? (Part 1 of 3)
- Question 1: Why did the chicken cross the road?
Answer: To get to the other side.
- Question 2: So why did the mouse cross the river?
Answer: To get to the other side of course!
- Question 3: So why are the trout expected to be so massive in New Zealand this year?
Answer: See Question 2. Eat. Repeat. Eat and repeat... until said fish is very full.
This year we have fielded questions from anglers regarding New Zealand's famous Year of the Mouse. People want to know what we are hearing from guides, friends and contacts in New Zealand. This is the first in a series of blog posts is meant to bring you up to speed on what we understand + give a little background to those who may not know that the YotM even existed + what we recommend.
We can also save you a lot of time if you'd rather not get into the details regarding the Year of the Mouse:
- Trout are predators and love to eat mice
- If there are a ton of mice clumsily swimming across the water, the fish will gorge themselves
- Casting to these fish can place you in a position to find enormous trout
- You should contact The Best of New Zealand Fly Fishing and place yourself to fish in these conditions
Now, to the details, beginning with the official word:
New Zealand's Dept. of Conservation (DOC) reports: Results from extensive seed sampling across the country in February and March point to the biggest beech mast for more than 40 years with exceptionally heavy seed loads in South Island forests. Rimu forests and tussock grasslands in the South Island are also seeding heavily.
The conditions needed to create a YotM happen when when the Beech flowers en masse throughout the country. The right timing doesn't happen every year, but when the stars align, the trees drop seeds at the end of Summer and into the Autumn. This means plenty of food for the mice and, in turn, the population goes crazy. For reference, Beech trees are the largest contributors to the mast because they are more than 80% of trees in the South Island and 40% in the North Island. The timing for a rodent "plague" happens about once every six or seven years.
When the mouse population increases they compete for food in a given area. With scarcity of food, and higher volumes of mice, some swim across the water to get to the other side in search of food. This is when the trout eats the mouse and grow to be monsters.
The End. Fish New Zealand.
Or maybe not... Click Here for Part 2: What can prevent the YotM from happening in 2019/2020.
Contact us to plan and book your NZ fly fishing adventure.