May Flies

[beer batter]

Coming to that time of year where the may flies will begin hatching soon. Anyone know what type of area the nymphs float out from? I'm pretty sure it's mud, but what type of depth? Deep basin areas or transitional areas around 12 to 15 feet? I'm thinking with the heat this weekend they may start real soon. May targeting some areas where they'd typically be found.

I've found a real small spinner with a single red hook and piece of night crawler works pretty well during a may fly hatch.

[Team Otter]

The hatch started ~6 days ago and is near over if not already.

[beer batter]

We had the midge fly hatch which look like a large mosquito, but the may flies haven't hit yet.

Looking for info on where the nymphs reside.

[gheenz]

Oh, the may flies have hatched already. At least on White Bear Lake. Was out last night before the big thunderstorm and the mayflies were going nuts. There was hundreds of thousands in the air. The storm coming must have got them goin because all of a sudden the air was filled with them.

[shintz]

Those mayflies can be quite a sight and an annoyance.

[beer batter]

Anyone know where the nymphs typically hatch from? Depth and bottom structure? Thanks.

[Bobb-o]

mayflies were all over at our cabin just outside of crosby, but therewerent any going yet at Mille Lacs

[Magneto]

I assume that you are referring to the Hexagenia Limbata (or just Hex) mayfly. To be sure this mayfly is about 1 to 1 ½ inches in length and is of a yellow color. Is this correct? There are no fewer then about a thousand different mayfly species.

The Hex nymph lives buried in the bottom of lakes and rivers that have a silt structure. I’m not really sure if they have any depth requirements as I have found them in some pretty deep water (Lake Superior for instance) and very shallow water as well. What I do know for sure is that they do require clean water, so they become somewhat of an ecosystem health indicator.

I find it interesting that some of you fellas mention them here as I, as a fly-fisherman (not just for trout) look in on sites like this one waiting for people to mention that they are seeing big mayflies on some of our nearby rivers and that the walleye bite is off due to the mayflies. It is the only time that I can catch walleye on the surface with dry flies. And yes walleye will rise for this particular mayfly. I do this every year on the St. Croix. I keep journals of bug hatches so that I know what I can expect to find when I hit the streams and such and my journals say they Hex mayflies should begin to hatch right around the 1st or 2nd week of July (on the St. Croix) It seems that the hatch progresses from west to east, meaning the west part of the state will see them before the east by about a week. I’m surprised that no one has mention “wigglers” for bait at the time of the hatch as the “wiggler” is actually this very mayfly nymph.

So, if you guys start seeing them, by all means let it be known.

Mike

[Team Otter]

Good information. Thank you for sharing.

[beer batter]

Thanks Magneto,

No sign of mayflies yet over the hot weekend. The midge flies (or fish flies as I've seen them called) are still around a bit. Water temps were already in the low 70's so it won't be long.

Trying to figure on a lake where silt locations would be found, and what comes to mind would be deep transitional areas of sand to mud. These are typically on deeper drop offs.

Top water flies may work for walleyes on a river system, but I've never heard of much luck with them on a lake. I think the walleyes are eating the nymphs as they float out of the mud/silt before they reach the surface. Other fish do pick them off the surface but not many walleyes in my experience.