Anyone who has spent a lot of time on or near Lake Erie has experienced a bug hatch. Mayflies have about a two-year life span, most of which they spend in the sediment at the bottom of Lake Erie. The larvae swim ashore, and shed their outer layer and sprout wings and a long tail, much like a caterpillar sheds its cocoon and becomes a butterfly. The mayfly larva metamorphosizes into a flying insect, and that stage is an adult insect. That’s what we see in communities along the lake here in the Cleveland, Ohio area. In their adult stage, they have no mouth and they are only alive for about 24 hours. Mayflies mate, and the eggs are deposited back into the lake, where they sink to the bottom and the cycle starts again.The pests are a primary food source for walleye and perch.
After a bug hatch we throw a variety of lures to see what the fish want at the beginning of your walleye charter. Worm harnesses are the main presentation we use. If the Dipsey divers bite, we load up on Dipseys. They are easy to check to make sure the white perch and white bass haven’t stripped the worm off. We check them every 15 to 20 minutes. We also will run spoons on one side and Reef Runners on the other side. Once the walleye show a preference we will change everything over to what is working. Sometimes they hit everything and we stay with the varied program.
Don’t forget, the best time to go fishing is when you can!
-Captain Moses