Big fish eat mice. A brown trout that ignores everything in your box will come unglued for a mouse skated across the surface after dark, and smallmouth, pike, and musky are just as willing in daylight. These are the patterns that make that happen — deer hair and foam bodies that push water, ride high, and hold up to a real beating.
Whether you're working a Black Hills tailwater at last light or chasing warmwater predators, this is where mousing starts.