Mayflies

[Stu]

I am a trip to northern ontario in late july and am worried about the mayfly hatch. When do these guys usyally show up?

[Vitreum]

last year it was about 7/16 on lac seul northwest. didn't seem to slow the walleyes a bit.

[Reels]

I have learned to like the mayfly hatch. Drag cranks over the mudflats and we have had some luck getting the hogs in the boat!

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[Karl]

They happen when they want to happen. Fishing is absolutely fantastic in the days leading up to a hatch. Fishing shuts down for 3-4 days after the hatch. No predicting it - sorry.

[Thumper]

I've seen columns of "smoke" coming from bays on Gull Rock lake before. When I got near it, it appeared to be flying insects. Is this a Mayfly _hatch_ I was witnessing? What would you do if you were near such an occurence?

[alan ex pup]

when we go up the first week of june all the highways seem alive with catterpillars. Are these related to the mayflys?It seemed like they almost covered the road to ear falls. It seems odd that they are all trying to get to the other side of the road!

[Thumper]

Hi, Al

Up on the North Shore area of MN, I ran into MANY MILLION caterpillars in mid-late June and July. They were everywhere in the woods. I talked to some of the rangers in Judge Magney State Park and they told me that there's an infestation of (what I believe they called) Army Worms. They aparently turn into moths. http://jmaps.d.umn.edu/images/personal/caterpillars/worms02/ Don't know for sure, but that _might_ have been what you encountered.

The flies were also really bad on the North Shore last year. Some of the locals attributed that to the Army Worms as well. That the flies fed and bred on the caterpillars.

I think Mayflies are aquatic most of their lives. Here's a link if you're interested: http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2166.html

According to that article, the spectacle I have witnessed is called the Dance or mating flight. I sure would like to know more about how to recognize and fish the different seasons of the Mayfly's life cycle!

[Gary_IA]

Reminds me of a fishing trip to an Iowa lake. My brother and I were in a boat fishing near a reed bed. All of sudden a cloud of mayflies were all over us. They just came up from the water and kept on rising. It surely surprised us. These were smaller and lighter in color than the ones I see along the Mississippi.

P.S. The fishing was the same before and after the mayflies-nada!

[Bill Krejca]

Actually, I believe the mayflies only live about 24 hours and don't have a mouth. They breed, lay eggs, and die.

The army worms will clean off almost every green leaf in their path. Surprisingly, most trees will releaf after they are stripped.

Nothing more fun than camping and frying fish outside; every now and then, you hear a sizzle as another worm falls into the grease!

Good luck,

[alan ex pup]

OK thanks 2 different critters.

[Thumper]

Yeah, Bill. You're right according to the articles on Mayflies I've been reading since this post started. The time that we SEE they Mayflies is their Teen or Adult stage. It's their pre-mating, mating, and post-mating stage. It lasts between 4 hours and 14 days, depending on the species, but most of the Mayflies in Walleye country are the ones that last 1-2 days.

After mating, the females lay their eggs in water. The eggs drop to the bottom where they'll hatch a few weeks later. The nymphs stay aquatic for normally a year, but that differs by species as well. Eventually they sprout their teen body with wings, cme out of the water to "dry", then sprout their adult body to mate and die.

I haven't read anything about how to determine when the eggs are hatching. Does anyone know how to tell? Also, can anyone give any tips on how to fish walleye during a mating period?

[stewart]

I've found that walleyes eat mayflies, but key mostly on the nymph stage, and probably gorge pretty heavily on the critters when they leave the bottom to head to the surface. I've only been lucky enough to see walleyes slurping flies on the surface twice... A half a crawler on a jig works well, a gold spinner with half a crawler too. I've heard of people using heddon sonars at this time to to have something reminiscent of the nymphs wriggling. Same idea, matching the wriggling, with a slip bobber and a leech.

Just my opinion, but I feel walleyes aren't selective like trout, and this makes 'matching the hatch' less critical. For example, I did fine with big floating rapala when I saw them surface feeding...

[Bill Krejca]

Sometimes when the wind is down, as in the evening, crappies will follow the little buggers to the surface, and you can catch them right on top. I've found that anything that stays on top will work, have even caught them on a bare hook just by holding it in the surface film and gently moving it up and down to create surface rings! Sometimes on LOW it will look like someone threw handsfull of gravel on the water. A wild time! Even caught a bullhead once on a dry fly! Once in a while you can get a walleye to bite on the surface, but my success has been pretty limited on them.

The walleye generally seem to gorge themselves on the mayflies/nymphs during the hatches. I have not been too successful on a day following a hatch.

Good luck

[chuck c c]

If you hit the may flies, you can have a great time fishing for white fish on the surface. Take a fly rod and a #6 or #8 "Hex" dry fly pattern and have at it. If you don't fly fish, use a clear plastic bubble about 2 feet above the fly on your spinning line. Cast it out, let it rest for 10-15 sec and then twitch it gently. The whitefish will find it. We have caught whitefish up to 5 pounds this way in Canada.

[Stu]

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. I have heard about using a gold spinner. Hey Reels, could you give me some more deatils? What kind of crankbait, what depth, etc.