Fly Of The Week: TFP Mini Mo Czech Nymph

I went fishing with a guy on Montana’s Blackfoot River a couple years ago and he was so into numbers that, at the end of the day, he whipped a click counter from his pocket, like a baseball umpire would use to track balls and strikes, and read off the tally: 31 trout for the day.

I loosely keep track of numbers while fishing, but I never take it too seriously. I did, however, keep track on my birthday one August while fishing Montana’s South Fork Flathead River and ended the day at 100 cutthroats, all taken on dries.

This dude I fished with on the Blackfoot was a Czech nymph freak. Had a 10-foot 3-weight all lined up and ready to go, with a couple shrimpy looking creations tied off to the main leader. He said if you wanted numbers you couldn’t beat Czech nymphing and when he told me that 31-fish tally I couldn’t really argue. I’d taken a few on dries and a few more on standard nymphs, but not near the number he could report.

Don’t get me wrong—this was a fun guy to be around and a very good angler, and he even left me with that Czech nymphing outfit and a pair of wading boots as a gift. I’ve dabbled in the Czech nymphing game, but I have my own system that works fine for me, so the long 3-weight sits in the garage, all lonely and jealous of my 5-weights. I do, however, find time to fish Czech nymphs off my standard nine-foot 5-weights, because . . . they work.

In fact, Czech nymphs work on many of the West’s best tailwaters, including the Missouri and Bighorn rivers. And on the “Mo” one of the best Czech nymphs is the TFP Mini Mo Czech, which is a spinoff of the popular Rainbow Czech Nymph.

We don’t call the Mini Mo Czech Nymph a standard Czech nymph because it’s a little slimmer than standard Czech nymphs. But that narrower profile is a great match for scuds and sowbugs even though it’s brighter than any natural scud or sow you’ll ever see.

You could catch fish on this pattern almost any day of the year, but it really shines from November through March. I won’t fish this pattern alone because, hey, two is better than one, right? Pair the TFP Mini Mo Czech with a Hare’s Ear, Pheasant Tail or a midge imitation behind it and you’ve got a lot of winter food options covered in two bugs.

Fish it off of 4X or 5X tippet and trail a fly behind it with lighter tippet. Use split shot on the leader to get the Mini Mo down. Get in the low-zone and it’s game on.

Any time you hit a tailwater, carry a few of these and if you can’t match the midge or Baetis hatch perfectly, go with the crustacean. The trout should take notice.