Bug Hatch Questions on Leech

SO I hear rumblings that it’s started. How long does it last up there and does it completely shut down the walleyes? Thanks!

should last a week or so and no it will not shut down the bite. It may seem like it if you are not on fish but there are slow days without a hatch going on also so I dont buy into the “shut down” As fancaster said there are minnows every where so plenty of feed out there, just have to entice a bite.

Soooo.. Question about the mayfly hatch on ANY body of water… (Heading up to Lac Seul soon, and word is that the hatch had started – just hoping to arm myself with some predator/prey info)…

If walleyes DO start feeding on mayflies (when you happen to catch a few and they are puking flies on the way up) — OR if the ‘eyes start feeding on baitfish that are feeding on flies in the area of the hatch — OR if your normal spots go cold and you can’t figure out why — What do you do? Change locations? Change up baits? Whats the gameplan when faced with a potential fly hatch?

Do you go to something like a downsized spinner/crawler rig and/or try to find areas where the flies would be “hatching”? Do you rig up minnow baits and troll through potential hatch areas?

Speaking of the nature of this prey, where do mayflies “hatch”? Can anyone provide an ecology lesson? I assume soft bottom bay, but I could be wrong. How deep are the larva usually when they start the hatch cycle? Any certain areas or parts of the lake that you could try to target?

Whats the general gameplan when faced with a big bug hatch?

Thanks for your thoughts!

I’d be interested in more general information on dealing with the mayfly hatch, too. I’ve read that they hatch primarily in shallow, soft bottom areas (so … bays) and you can imitate the larvae (and catch fish) by casting small, jointed rapalas, rigging small leeches, and casting or trolling small spinners, but that the amount of food in the system absolutely will slow down the bite no matter what you do. I figure if you’re on a big lake you can just keep after the fish that aren’t focusing on the flies, but on some lakes you might not have that option. It would be fun to read about some first hand, actual experiences on succesfully dealing with big mayfly hatches.

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I’d be interested in more general information on dealing with the mayfly hatch, too. I’ve read that they hatch primarily in shallow, soft bottom areas (so … bays) and you can imitate the larvae (and catch fish) by casting small, jointed rapalas, rigging small leeches, and casting or trolling small spinners, but that the amount of food in the system absolutely will slow down the bite no matter what you do. I figure if you’re on a big lake you can just keep after the fish that aren’t focusing on the flies, but on some lakes you might not have that option. It would be fun to read about some first hand, actual experiences on succesfully dealing with big mayfly hatches.

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X 2! I’ve been bamboozled by the hatches before, and generally struggle with them. Love to hear more!

I would say the hatch is nearly over. It was pretty weak as hatches go. We were lucky over the fourth and had no piles of flies on shoreline. It gets so bad some years that it is like there is a 120 ft by 4 ft six inch thick animal rotting on your shore. The fishing was fair to good last weekend. I fished midlake humps. I caught most of my fish with crawlers. I had some beautiful leeches that the fish would not touch. I used a jig and rainbow with some success. The best bite was on the fourth before the storm rolled in. But the party is over for me. Won’t be back up until August. It was a great May and June.