Mayflies

[Ole fisherman]

How is the current mayfly problem on this western basin ? Was out a week ago and the bottom was covered about 4 ft from bottom. Any relief yet ?? Thanks in advance..

[Billy Boy]

Clearing up a bit. Marked a bunch on the bottom in places. Some looked like a perch school on the fish finder. Mostly tight to the bottom. I did anchor up a couple times to check. No perch to be had! Other places total screen of fuzzy marks. Looked like a huge bait ball. Many mayflies in big slicks floating. Definitely clearing up. Fish would bite if you can find them.

[nickpaolini81]

We casted Friday, Saturday and Sunday and per suggestion, ran all the way out to the Vermillion dump on Friday afternoon and Saturday AM to get away from these. Dead mayflies were sparse out there. Friday we got 6 in the heat of the day at the V dump. Saturday AM bite was good (6 in the boat in an hour) up to the point where I had a terribly sick man and had to run him in and wasnt going to repeat that 20 mile jaunt after getting him to the dock to fish the heat of the day....again. So we ended up with good marks about 6 miles ESE of Kelly's. We ground it out til 3 and picked up 4 more keepers. Lots of junk and shorts. As expected, the mayflies were not as sparse as the Vermillion dump and echo was showing a few blocks here and there of dead flies. Sunday AM, we repeated the same spot off Kelly's and picked up 6 more keepers, lots of junk and shorts.

I was told by a neighbor @ the marina that west of the islands the dead flies are "thicker than theives but give it a few days and I'll be back to the west side." He was running to the V dump and further to avoid the flies and getting them all.

[nmattx]

New angler here coming out of Vermilion. Was just in Vermilion and most of the Mayflies are dead, guessing their season is over. Any suggestions for a newer angler here? Don’t have any boards or planers, mainly using spoons, jigs and drop shots. Any advice would be awesome! Not exactly sure where to go out of Vermilion either, just usually kinda wonder out and start looking for fish.

[nickpaolini81]

Does the mayfly hatch effect the bite every year this badly over the course of 2-3 weeks? Is this year worse than others?

[Billy Boy]

Last year was a bigger hatch than this year. This year was a couple weeks earlier due to warmer water temperatures early. It varies year to year

[West Basin]

Mayfly hatch is about the same every year. Numbers will vary year to year, but you won't notice much if any difference in the overall numbers. Wind direction makes a difference in how many people see in any particular location. A north wind blows a lot more to shore. A south wind keeps more out on the Lake. One area may see a lot while 10 miles away it's much less. Once the water temperature gets to the right temperature (forgot what that is), they start hatching out and generally lasts about three weeks, with a peak in the middle.

There are aquatic insect hatches all season, from April through October. Late spring / early summer is the peak.

[nickpaolini81]

Is it normal for the walleye bite to slow down during these weeks....particularly the casting bite. Also, have they cleared up any and has the casting bite picked back up west of the islands?

[Billy Boy]

I did ok last weekend. About average for fishing during/after a blow regardless of the mayfly situation. Most of my fish were caught as a reaction bite with every keeper coming on the stinger hook. All the shorts were aggressive, and came on the lead hook. They eat mayflies, but will still bite. If you’re casting slow it down a bit. I start spoons at 2.5, and harnesses at 2.0 this time of year. Last weekend no hits over 1.75 all the way down to 1.5