Bug Hatch

[Guest]

Has the bug hatch happened on Mille Lacs yet this week? I heard some talk up there last weekend that it might happen by Memorial weekend.

I'm still picking bug parts from last year's hatch off of my equipment!

[Guest]

I haven't heard peronally, but I am heading up. As any regular to the Mille Lacs area knows that what you speak of regarding cleaning up your stuff after the major part of the bug hatch is too true. Nasty!!!! During a bad year it sounds like you are driving through water when you "hit" truly bad areas where there are literally clouds of bugs. Again, I don't know if they are or have hatched yet, but I am hoping they haven't, or worse case scenario, they aren't too bad this year. Praying!!

[Guest]

was up yesterday... no sign of any hatch (yet)

------------------
-FNC

"If I had a job... I'd quit it."

[waterwolff]

Fished Whitefish on saturday and was planning on fishing Mille Lacs sunday until I drove in to Cashes access holy hatch call me a pussy but I kept heading south

[Benny]

Was out at Flamingo Reef today and had tons of those little flys all over the boat.
I don't know if they were may flys or the socalled fish flyes?They were very small like the size of Misketoes.
The people staying in the cabin next to us went over to Brainerd and said 18 on the North side was covered with May flys.
Benny

[Guest]

The hatch has arrived. Saturday after the wind laid down those buggers where everywhere. Pretty slow weekend of fishing for me. 2 fish Friday, 4 Saturday, 4 Sunday, no legals. All where caught evenings.

[Guest]

Anybody know how long it usually lasts? I thought it was about a week last year.

[vikes40for60]

Sometimes I wish I were a mayfly. If I were I could sum up my life with 3 words.

BORN, SHAG, DIE

Mayflies are classified in the Insect Order Ephemeroptera, meaning in Greek "lasting but a day." As winged adults, they survive only a few hours or at most a few days, nothing is eaten, nor do they crawl or walk. They only fly and mate within dancing swarms, usually in late afternoon or evening. Swarms, consisting of hundreds or thousands, emerge from the water after synchronously appearing along and inland of the shoreline. Mating normally occurs the same day adulthood is achieved. Females release as many as 8,000 fertile, oval eggs over the water, often scattering them or, in some species, in mass in a suitable place. After eggs are laid, females fall to the water and float, often drifting onto beaches in nuisance piles or windrows. Others are strongly attracted to and congregate under night lights.

Dead mayflies pile up, decompose and give off an offensive dead fish-like odor (stench). This material serves as a breeding ground for flies and other scavenger insects. Also, swarms can cause traffic hazards by their bodies getting crushed, resulting in dangerously slick roads and sidewalks. It is necessary for residents to shovel away mayflies near their homes, and street sweepers to clean the mess off the road. Heavy populations of swarming mayflies have been blamed for brown-outs at power plants, and even putting out campfires. Off water breezes often blow the swarms some distance inland to share the burden of windrows of mayfly bodies. Unfortunately, a reasonably large number of people, who dwell where mayflies dance and shower their debris toward earth, come down with a seasonal hay fever and sometimes serious asthma (causes sneezes and wheezes). It is believed that the protein content of insect chitin (disintegrated bodies and covering) do damage to the allergic individual's respiratory system. The presence of these nuisance insects may discourage tourism during the July 4th holiday along Lake Erie. Fortunately, the swarming season is temporarily, annoying from the last week of June through the first two weeks of July each year.

Eggs laid on the water surface gradually sink to the bottom and, after a few days or several months, hatch into tiny aquatic nymphs well adapted for living at the bottom of quiet bodies of water or rapidly flowing streams. Some species burrow into the lake sediment to feed on algae, diatoms, aquatic vegetation, other aquatic insects, etc. When mature, nymphs swim to the surface or climb up plant stems or rocks where they break the nymphal skin, wait briefly for the wings to dry, and fly off. (This subimago period lasts a few minutes to 48 hours, depending on the species.) Subimagoes are dull in appearance while true adults are shiny with longer tails and legs.

[This message has been edited by vikes40for60 (edited 05-27-2003).]

[This message has been edited by vikes40for60 (edited 05-27-2003).]

[Guest]

I like the shag thing! I'm not big on the dying part though. Good information.

[blkfrg]

It seems the worse may be over, until the next hatch. No more HUGE clouds of bugs smashing into my windshield and clogging the radiator, only a few bug strikes here and there, still smells bad though.

[Fisherman For a Lifetime]

It was real bad with bugs out of cove yesterday. Every square inch of the boat was covered !

If you have a nice, clean, new boat like I had, it won't be after you run into that...

[Guest]

WAS UP SUN. AND THERE WERE SWARMS OF FISH FLYS AND OUR VEHICLE WAS COVERED. WENT LAST NIGHT 6/29 AND THERE WERE A FEW BUT SEEMED TO BE DYING DOWN. ALTO

[Guest]

MAKE THAT 5/29

[ReelTimes]

Any update on how the bugs are this weekend? Want to come down SUnday but my wife hates it when the bugs are real bad. APpreciate any quick updates from yesterday/today

[IFallsRon]

I was there over the weekend. We hit big clouds of mayflys near Eddy's Friday afternoon in the mist. The bugs I washed off the truck Sunday night are stinking up the driveway.