Up from the bottom of lakes, rivers, and streams emerge the bugs. Rising. Hatching. Swarming. Even the hardiest of angling hardcores find it difficult to coexist with seemingly endless swarms of harmless mayflies befriending ears, nose, mouth, and arms as they move around your neck and down your shirt. It becomes a test of mind over mayfly. But for walleyes living in emerging mayfly waters, this is harvest time, packing bellies full of seasonal bugs.
Of the estimated 700 mayfly species in North America, burrowing mayflies are the most important to walleyes. Burrowing mayflies hatch in hordes, and their large size can quickly fill a walleye's stomach. They derive their name from the nymph stage that digs into the mud, silt, and clay of lake bottoms. Most lakes as well as large rivers support strong populations of these insects.
Major hatches often occur in waves a week or two apart, with peaks lasting for a day or two. Between the waves, however, minor hatches occur, with the total hatch lasting up to two months in some northern waters. Peak hatches often occur simultaneously on separate bodies of water, with water temperature theorized as the trigger.
Search classic spots to find walleyes -- points, humps, bars or flats. Search shallow during twilight periods. Also investigate visual clouds and pods of mayflies in open-water basin areas. During heavy hatches, the bugs sometimes can be seen on sonar.
On some waters, mayfly hatches occur in such volumes that walleyes easily can feed successfully without having to move far to do so. When this occurs, the fish become hard to catch. Finesse tactics are necessary to entice overfed walleyes to take one more bite.
A slipfloat rig baited with a small baitfish, half a nightcrawler, or a small leech works in many situations. Hook baits on light leadheads (1/16 ounce) set several feet off the bottom. To work large flats where walleyes are feeding on mayflies, anchor upwind and let the breeze drift baits through the feeding grounds.
