Dirk and Steve are quoted in today’s Start Trib. http://www.startribune.com
Neat story guys!
It’s prime time for slippery, smelly mayflies
Jill Burcum, Star Tribune
July 22, 2004 MAYFLY0722
Wild horses couldn’t keep diehard fisherman Dirk Wassink from trolling the Mississippi River for catfish.
But this year, the mayflies nearly succeeded.
A bumper crop of the swarming bugs was hatched over the past week on many Minnesota rivers and lakes. For the first time, Wassink seriously considered not launching his Lund until the worst was over.
“If you have your light on, they’ll swarm you. They’ll go down your shirt. They’ll get in your hair. They’ll go in your ears,” said Wassink, 39, of Hastings. “It’s that bad.”
Mosquitoes may rule Minnesota airspace when it comes to irritating insects of summer. But this year there’s a serious and smelly challenger to the title of the season’s prime pest: the mayfly.
The bugs, which burrow in lake and river bottoms until they mature, typically surface every year in early summer and buzz about for a few days before they mate, lay eggs and die. This year the population has boomed in many areas, experts say, particularly along the Mississippi.
A rude surprisePhoto provided by Dirk WassinkWhile the bugs don’t bite, their sheer numbers can prove annoying or even dangerous.
On Friday, a motorcyclist on Hwy. 63 near Hager City, Wis., encountered a sight not even an entomologist could love. Mayflies from the nearby Mississippi carpeted the road ahead 3 to 4 inches deep.
The cyclist skidded out of control, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office. Four cars piled up behind him. No one was hurt, but the accident shut down the bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota for almost two hours.
“Once you run them over, it’s like grease. Your tires just spin,” said Dan Johnson, a public works employee from nearby Red Wing who was on the scene.
Officers arrived to help. But their flashing squad car may have made the problem worse.
The bugs find light totally irresistible.
“As soon as the cops came in, they were just swarmed with mayflies,” Johnson said. “It incapacitated their vehicles. They couldn’t get off the bridge.”
Eventually, snowplows were called to clear the bug carcasses, which had begun to perfume the bridge with the insect’s signature aroma, which is something akin to rotting fish.
“It’s been many, many years since we’ve had mayflies this bad. The mid ’70s was the last time we had to get the snowplows out,” said Everett Muhlhausen, Pierce County’s sheriff.
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and law enforcement authorities also report mayflies in annoying abundance in the Bemidji and Mille Lacs areas this year.
Mille Lacs County Sheriff Brent Lindgren is worried about the days ahead and the potential for slick roads and sidewalks. The bugs seem to hatch when conditions are hot and humid, as the weather has been this week.
“We could have a wicked weekend,” said Lindgren, who’s seen the bugs pile up in numbers rivaling those seen on the Red Wing-Hager City bridge.
“It sounds like News of the Weird, but it can happen,” Lindgren said.
There’s some good
Not everyone is annoyed by the bug boom. Scientists and environmental experts consider the insect swarms good news.
The reason?
“They are indicators of good water quality,” said Len Ferrington, a University of Minnesota entomology professor.
Back when industrial pollutants were dumped in waterways and inadequately treated sewage was a problem, mayfly populations dwindled precipitously in Minnesota and elsewhere, Ferrington said.
But with cleaned-up water and better sewage treatment, “the mayfly populations are thriving again,” Ferrington said, and are heartening evidence of an environmental comeback.
Not bad to look at
More than 50 different types of mayflies call Minnesota home. One of the most common is the Hexagenia mayfly, whose iridescent wings, delicate legs and elegant mating dance have many admirers among scientists.
“They’re beautiful,” Ferrington said.
There’s another mayfly benefit that anglers will appreciate even as they swat away the swarms.
Fish love to eat mayflies. The bugs fatten up bluegills, crappies, catfish, even those beloved walleyes, helping to produce more and bigger fish.
This year, “It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet,” said Steve Vick, a veteran angler who runs Everets Resort and campground near Hager City.
Still, Vick is weary from the bug combat.
Each night for the past week he has shut off the campground’s lights to avoid swarms. In the morning, he digs out the Pepsi vending machine, whose light draws thousands of mayflies through the night.
The worst, though, are the giant clumps washing up for the first time this year on his resort’s Mississippi River beach. Lest the bug’s fishy stench drive off clients, Vick shovels them into piles and carts them off.
Vick is heartened by the knowledge the bug hatch will soon be over and the mayflies will be gone for another year.
“I hope it ends soon,” he said.
Jill Burcum is at
What’s the size and color of Raps Dirk! 
