May Fly Hatch

[Coldbasser]

Hi, just looking for a little help in getting bite in the midst of a mayfly hatch any go to baits or style of presentation that seems to get the bass to bite? 

A tad perplexed 

Rick 

[A-Jay]

Welcome to the club Rick. 

The big fly hatch is always tough sledding for me.

Only consistent producer here

involves a fly rod and something fuzzy tied around the hook. 

Fun tough.

A-Jay 

 

 

[OkobojiEagle]

Two baits I tie on during mayfly season... 1. very light hair jig, usually black and <1/8 oz.  2. small popper with rear treble dressed with teaser feather.  Work them both as slowly as you can stand.

 

oe

[TnRiver46]

I try to imitate bluegill during the mayfly hatch. Bluegill eat the bugs, bass eat the bluegill 

[OkobojiEagle]

Bass and Walleye will eat the bugs directly...

 

oe

[TnRiver46]

47 minutes ago, OkobojiEagle said:

Bass and Walleye will eat the bugs directly...

 

oe

Most definitely. I just have better luck imitating the bluegills 

[MickD]

I have heard that on clear water lakes a brown curly tail grub works well worked very slowly.  I have no experience of my own.

[Fallser]

I don't tie anything fuzzy on during a mayfly hatch.  At best I try to imitate the mayfly hatching.  Don't always work. It's the one time a fly fisherman might have an advantage over ya'll.  The Susquehanna River a huge white mayfly hatch.  If you look at the street lights you'd think you were in snow storm.  Everything in the river is eating them, minnows, sunfish, bass, catfish, walleye.  Even a well tied fly won't get their attention a lot of times.  It does pay to try something different.  You didn't say whether you were fishing a lake or a river.   Coming up in the next couple of weeks in the Northeast, Midwest and Ontario will be the Hex hatch.  This is the biggest mayfly in the U.S.  It's mostly found in lakes.  The adult mayfly can be over an inch long and the nymph is about an inch long.  What the fish are eating are either nymphs swimming to the surface or the emerging mayfly in the surface film.  I won't bore you with anymore details.  Except they usually emerge just before dark and the hatch continues for a while after dark.

 For the nymph, all the suggestions are good.  A small jig with a black or olive twister tail grub, hair or marabou jigs.  The only thing I'll say is the nymphs aren't slow.  They're literally swimming for their lives. 

 The emerger is where things slow down.  The nymph sits in the surface film and the adult emerges from it.  Basically it has to sit there until it's wings dry and it's body hardens, then it can fly away.  Easy pickings for any fish. A small popper fished slowly should work for top water.  I'm not sure about the sunfish lure, unless it's a top water.  I would fish it with either floating Rapala style lure or a shallow diver. I prefer Yozuri lures myself.   Fish them slowly.

  I'm heading to upstate NY in about 10 days to Upper Saranac Lake.  I'm hoping to hit a Hex hatch there.  Figure I can get my niece's husband or my nephew to row their old uncle around the lake in the dark.  This is one of the flies I'm planning to fish.  It doesn't look a bit like a mayfly.  This one is about 3 1/2 inches long.  My feeding fish imitation.  I'll have to downsize it a bit to imitate the mayfly.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Coldbasser]

Thanks great information, I'm fishing lakes for the most part 90--10 lakes to rivers.

we have had a giant hatch here in central Canada I'm located just north of the minn - North Dakota state line. Surface water temps are anywhere from 76 to 84 degrees. 

Im going to try a fly behind a floating rap. 

Let us know how you fair on your upcoming adventure.

good luck

Rick

[Fishin' Fool]

The bass are feeding up during this time period usually smallies are bottom feeders. I have had success locating active pockets of fish surface feeding and throwing a Keitech swimbait where they are actively feeding. Just keep your lures towards the surface right now.

[Dwight Hottle]

Light weight hair jigs work. Also small in line spinners with some yarn on a treble or siwash hook. You can use a dressed treble too. 

[gim]

I second the black small hair jig.

 

These biblical bug hatches are actually a good sign.  Bugs can't hatch in polluted waters.  So all these bug hatches are a sign that the water is in good shape.  The bugs themselves may be annoying, but we should be more worried if there aren't any.

[Glenn]

Quite a bit of information packed into this article: https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/mayflies-bass.html

 

[Coldbasser]

I agree that giant hatches are great for the fishery, just confounding at times on how to entice them to bite.

cheers

rick

[Further North]

I ran into the mayfly hatch on a Canadian lake a few years ago.

 

It's usually the kiss of death to anyone fishing up there...there are rafts of dead mayflies anywhere the wind blows them.

 

Since I'm a fly angler about 50% of the time, I always have at least a couple fly rods and a buncha flies on board.

 

I had not anticipated the mayfly hatch, but ran into it...and everything shut down.  Even pike were eating mayflies off the top of the water.

 

I was going to bag the trip and head home, but while sorting through my gear and getting it ready, I stumbled across a fly box...I opened it, and found a half-dozen mayflies...and said, what the heck, I'll try 'em.

 

I spent the next couple-few days with a bend in my 6 wt., with other anglers going by asking, "What are you using?" and me replaying, "You don't have any."

 

I've since discovered they'll hit small poppers, and some other flies that look like submerged mayflies heading for the surface.

 

So...it's not a complete write off it you're prepared...