Mayfly Hatch

[Walleye #1]

Has anyone been out into the B-dub waters of late, especially Basswood and seen if the mayflies have hatched?? I heard they had hatched over on Lake Vermilion, but not heard much about this area. Last year we hit the fishing during the hatch and it made it touch to catch the bigger walleyes. We are heading up on Saturday for a week of fishing on the bays of Pipestone and Jackfish. Any reports on fishing or the mayflies are greatly appreciated.

Walleye #1

[Big Country]

Just got back from Ely. Mayflys are thick. Fished 6pm until 9pm on Shagawa. One perch, no eyes. Got to the landing and spoke to four other parties. They had the same report. No eyes caught. Too many bugs on the water. Sunday spent many hours on Burntside. No lakers were interested. Ran 3 downriggers and one dipsy. A couple of fellas from Eveleth were at the landing with about the same report. One small laker and an eelpout when they decided to jig because the riggers were'nt working. I sure hope you have better luck than we did. Beautiful weekend, but I think it will be a few weeks before the fish are interested. BC

[caseymcq]

I talked with a guy that said they had hatched on Dissapointment Lake (near Snowbank). Just taking a SWAG (Scientific Wild Guess) at it I would say they probably have hatched on Basswood too.

[Casaloma]

I gotta' chime in with the same report. No walleye action for me on my fav. Ely haunt. Tried Friday & Saturday late into the night without any success. Lots of bugs in the water. Did find the gills on their beds for lots of fun ultralight action & great size. Kept some bulls for a meal due to walleye fillet depression.

Any Ely area catch reports from last weekend???

Later, CLoma.

[Maximum12]

Anyone know if this really affects the bite?

Reason I ask is I read an article recently - Outdoor News, maybe? - saying mayflies have nothing to do with a good or bad bite. I'd be curious for perspectives.

To add another data point, we were up in the BWCA last year & hit a lake with a hatch & caught virtually nothing. A few lakes over, a couple days later, no bugs, plenty of fish. It seemed like more than a coincidence to me!

[upnorth]

Go browse around the Vermilion forum, plenty of speculation there. Most believe the Walleyes gorge on the Mayflies and just ain't hungary enough to hit any thing else.

[SKIPPERS KID]

I do not know? It all but my time on the water in my life I know for a sure the walleye bite slows down they feed on them wiggles all winter long no-wen to most as mayfly larva. Well I know when they are done fishing picks up so do you eat when you can or do you pass on a free meal well if fish could talk we would not need what we got we would be using what they want hope your hunt is successful have fun.

[Ice9]

On Basswood this past weekend--heavy mayflies (actually big golden stoneflies; I guess that's what you mean). Talked to people and heard of few walleyes coming in. We caught two in two days, one pretty nice one and one eater; both were stuffed with stonefly mush. Both nights hatches were heavy and many surface takes, probably bass or whitefish. Given the size of the emerging larvae, and the density of the hatch, I'd guess that the thin walleye fishing was mainly due to the hatch, but I'm no expert. We also had very clear, very still conditions. Monday the hatch was noticeably lighter and more scattered, and the wind change to SE and some heavy boomers with lots of wind shook things up and we had a very hot bass bite as we exited the park. I'd guess fishing for walleyes will pick up.

ice

[upnorth]

We were out on Vermilion on Sunday and you could see clouds of mayflies on the graph and you could also see fish right in the midst of those clouds. I am going to assume they were Walleyes pigging out on mayflies. We tried bringing baits up into the clouds both lindy style and with spinners, we even tried pulling deep diving plugs through the mess all no avail.

[NAGORSKI]

Not good news. How long does the hatch usually last, about a week? And how long does anyone think it takes for the walleys to "hungry" again.

[ripstick]

Not a sure bet, but when the hatch is on the bottom try dragging a crawler or a leech across the bottom very slowly. Best bet is on a lindy about 6 to 12 inches. Like I said a sure thing but it seems to work now and then.