Effect of mayfly hatch on bass fishing?

[winger]

I am going up to Pelican Lake near Orr later this month and was wondering how the bass fishing would be affected by the mayfly hatch. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Ice Hole]

Last time I fished a bass tourny during a mayfly hatch, I did awesome. It seemed if you could find a cabbage bed with mayflies scootin around nearby, it would draw in an unusual amount of sunfish who are too busy looking for mayflies and an easy target for the bass. Every weed bed that had these bugs floating and flying and whatnot was loaded with bass...the bass were very thin in any other bed without the bugs. Not 100% sure if they were mayflies or not, but they were everywhere, far from shore too. So find a weed bed, find the bugs, and you'll find bass

[Guest]

It could affect the smallmouth fishing a little. Just about all fish love to eat emerging mayflies including smallmouth. But, if there are other things for them to eat (like crayfish or baitfish), you should still be able to find them where you would normally look. If there is a big hatch going on while you are there, try fishing shores where the wind is blowing into. That will have the biggest concentrations of mayflies that drift into the shore. Try fishing with small grubs or worms on a plain jighead. If you see fish suspended on your fish-finder, just try to count-down the jig and swim it just above the depth of the fish. Also, you should still be able to catch fish near or on shore with normal lures such as tubes, spinnerbaits, topwaters, crankbaits, etc. Good luck!

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Adam Johnson
www.adamjohnsonfishing.com