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Mayfly Hatch and fishing report


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I was up this weekend fishing around pike bay and managed to catch 9 walleyes, biggest was about 16.5 inches and also got 7 bass and a perch with several missed bites as well. I got some relatives coming up over the fourth that would like to catch some fish, I know the walleyes probably wont be biting because of the mayflies, but my question is can you catch any smallies away from the mayfly beds? Im just starting to take up bass fishing when the walleyes arent biting. I would assume northerns and muskies would also be feeding away from the mayfly beds. There seems to be a few mayflies around in pike bay, i had a lot of them landing in my boat.

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  • Cliff Wagenbach

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I fished outside of Pike Bay for the most part, and also saw Mayflies starting to hatch. Seemed to me that anywhere shallower than about 15' was showing blooms on the sonar. Deeper, I didn't see as many. or any at all.

Caught 25 'Eyes, but had to pick through a bunch of smaller ones to find the keepers. I caught all of them Lindy & 1/4-1/2 crawler.

As far as the smallies go, I did pretty well casting along the shoreline on islands. Rocks, docks, logs, etc. No problem with the bugs there for whatever reason. Guess they aren't around the beds. Wacky worm, spinner with white in the skirt, and the Rapala X-shad all worked to varying degrees.

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There was a very large mayfly hatch in Pike Bay last night. Most of the bay was coated with them this morning.

That hatch did not affect the Big Bay bite though. My clients and I caught 63 walleyes and 4 perch today and kept 24 walleyes and the perch. Our largest was a 21 incher.

24' to 32' of water using lindys with crawlers or minnows.

I expect Big Bay to have a major hatch within the next week or so.

Cliff

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Cliff

Is this hatch going to affect the bite on the weekend of the fourth? I'm looking forward to a good day on the lake, whether the fish bite or not.

Gary

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Gary,

I think that the big hatch may be possible by the 4th weekend!

If it is in progress, we can probably expect a very tough walleye bite! cry

Guess we we will just have to pull out a few new tricks! wink

Cliff

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How do you guys change tactics during the hatch? Downsize...flies...any thoughts?

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Half a crawler size 8 hook on a lindy when the flys are out and clouds of larva in the water.

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Does the hatch affect the bass bite at all?

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Last year the hatch almost shut down the walleye bite, but the bass were still really biting!

Cliff

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Has the hatch happened throughout the lake yet? I see pike bay anywhere else on the lake? Frazer Bay? West end?

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I saw the beginning of a hatch at Grassy point a couple of evenings ago.

Cliff

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Going out tomorrow think we will be all right going to try a couple spots in frazer and around grassy point? I noticed the clouds on the graph in a couple spots monday ....but was hoping they were going to hold off.

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Well worth a try.

Sometimes if you can get into the suspended clouds that are close to the bottom you will find hungry fish.

Try a plain lindy rig with a #4 hook and 1/2 crawler or a small gold spinner with a piece of crawler.

Cliff

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Thanks Cliff...very much appreciated. Is the hatch throughout the lake? Any ideas for smallies or pike in that area if the eyes ar not biting? I am going to be on the lake from early morning to whenever the rain that is prodicted to hit hits. So have alot of time to explore. Hows big bay for the mayfly hatch happened yet? Know a few spots there also if that would be the better option.

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why must the hatch be on my vacation? At least wait til the 3rd so I can fish two dang days first!

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The hatch occures thruout the lake at different times.

Big Bay is usually the last to hatch because it is deeper and thus cold longer.

As stated by me and many others fish the rocks and docks for smallies.

Almost anything works, but I like small crank baits and Senko worms.

Cliff

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Well I guess that my nickname and my tag-line will be my mottos for the next week. I'll still have a blast!

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Is the water temp where it usually is this time of season?

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Any new reports on the hatch? I was told it happened and told it didnt. Fishing still good?

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I fished walleyes for a couple of hours this weekend just west of Moccasin point and the hatch had definitely happened but I still got my limit of 16" in under an hour using Gulp minnows. I didn't feel like messing with live bait and the Gulp worked. I even caught a few smaller ones when I tried a Gulp green crawler and a chartreuse minnow.

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No bug hatch in the Big Bay area yet.

Cliff

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Im still getting fish in pike bay. Quite a few mayflies around but managed 7 walleyes 2 smallies and a northern this weekend. Heading back up Wednesday.

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YUK!! frown

I caught a couple of 21's there yesterday with lindys and minnows!

Cliff

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Any other reports on the tragic news? Was hoping for one more decent day of fishing on friday morning. Big bay or Frazer bay affected yet? West end mayfly hatch?

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No hatch in Big Bay yet! Getting close though!

Cliff

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I was on Frazer Bay last night with my son and wife. We kept nine between 14 and 16 inches, caught 18 total in a couple of hours. Two 18 inchers and the rest were too small. 18-22 feet midlake rockpiles. Fish were stacked up on top. This was the first time fishing in 4 years or so-nice to see some decent eaters. At the dock there were tons of mayflies and husks all over the place but the fish were still biting. Going again with sledneck this afternoon-we'll see if we can keep him away from the bass!!

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There was a medium sized mayfly hatch on Big Bay this morning.

It did not have a large affect on the bite today.

We boated 38 and kept 12 nice fish.

We can expect ,ore and probably larger hatches now for a few days at least!

Cliff

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