|
|
Lake Erie Charter Captain Dave Adams of D & D Charters answers questions and provides tips and insights into fishing the region.
If you would like to Ask the Captain a question, please click HERE.
March 23, 2003
James from Texas Asks:
Dave -
I have become interested in fishing for walleyes. Possibly planning a trip up north sometime this summer and was wondering what a mayfly rig is? I was reading some of the online fishing reports from last summer/fall and a couple of guys mentioned using mayfly rigs. I thought mayfly's were insects (kind of hard to rig one of those unless they are Texas sized bugs!!!)
Thanks,
James
Captain Dave's Response:
James,
The mayfly rig, according to an article by Keith Segar of Walleye Central, is a rig they use on the Western Basin.
A top tactic is to cast, drift, or troll with small spinner rigs called "weapons", or "Mayfly rigs". Constituting of a short 12'-24' leader made with gold beads, and a single hook they are normal outfitted with a small #0, or #00 gold Colorado blade so that it resembles a Mayfly. Anglers usually drag one of these outfits along the bottom while casting and retrieving a second one for an effective pattern when the wind is strong enough to allow you to drift. The hook I like to use with this rig is the standard bait holder in size #6 or #4 so that it helps to keep the overall size small. It is important to only use a small piece of night crawler on this hook as well, or the spinner will not be as effective.
Before you read about the mayfly, courtesy of Pennsylvania Sea Grant,
I must add this: "Yes, the mayfly is small. And why would you want to drive up from Texas, fish in 25 feet of water, and catch those puny-bug-eating walleye of the Western Basin? We catch big 'Texas-size' walleye in the 70 to 100 foot depths of Central and Eastern Basins."
Regardless of where you choose to fish, you will enjoy your trip to Lake Erie.
Good fishing,
Capt. Dave Adams
Mayflies are insects that are abundant throughout the world. The presence of their nymph (aquatic stage) in stream or lake sediment is an indication of good water quality because they are very sensitive to pollution. Mayflies (Hexagenia spp.) were very abundant in Lake Erie waters until the early 1950's, when organic pollution from untreated sewage and industrial discharges contaminated the sediment. The heavy load of nutrients discharged into Lake Erie caused excessive growths of nuisance algae. When these algae died and decayed, they caused the sediments to become anoxic (without oxygen). This created sediment conditions that were not conducive to supporting mayflies.
In 1972, the International Water Quality Agreement was developed between the United States and Canada to curb pollution. As a result of that agreement and other pollution abatement programs established by the bordering states and Canadian provinces, mayflies are now making a comeback along the shorelines of Lake Erie. The massive resurgence of these mayflies was first noticed in the shallow western basin in 1994 and has now moved to the central and eastern basins. The presence of mayflies is an indication that pollution controls established on Lake Erie have greatly improved the water quality and sediment conditions.
Fishery biologists have determined that mayflies make up a significant portion of the walleye's diet. The resurgence of mayflies has been paralleled by the reappearance of endangered species of fish such as the sturgeon, whitefish, lake herring, and silver chub.
While the remarkable return of these winged insects is good news to environmentalists and sport fishermen, the general public has at times labeled them a pest or nuisance species. In the western basin of Lake Erie, massive swarms of adult mayflies have caused electrical power outages, slippery highways and left piles of decaying insects for municipalities to remove.
LIFE HISTORY
Adult mayflies appear on Lake Erie as early as the first week of June and emerge sporadically until September. After mating, the female mayfly deposits as many as 8,000 eggs directly on or in the water. The eggs then sink to the bottom of the lake and after several days to several months, depending on water temperature, hatch into the nymph stage.
The nymphs live in the lake sediment and feed on particulate matter. They construct a U-shaped burrow or tunnel in the sediments for their temporary home and make their burrow larger as they continue to grow. While in the burrow, the nymph moves its abdominal gills in undulating movements. This keeps the burrow oxygenated so the nymph can continue to grow to adulthood. The nymph stage lasts from one or two years depending on species and temperature conditions.
Nymphs usually mature in two years in colder climates. As the nymphs continue to grow, they go through a molting process (ecdysis), during which they shed their exoskeleton and form a new one. Nymphs may undergo as many as 20 to 30 molts before emerging to adults. When the nymph is ready for emergence, it leaves the burrow at dusk and swims to the surface. At the surface the nymph's exoskeleton splits and the fully-winged subimago (sub-adult) emerges and flies to a hard surface for a its final molt to adulthood.
Transformation to the adult stage may occur in a few minutes or take an entire night. Subimagoes, which are sexually immature and incapable of mating, are often mistaken for an adult. They are, however, easy to tell apart by observing their color. Subimagoes are a dark smoke color while adults are white or straw colored.
Adult mayflies have a single purpose: mating. They do not feed as adults due to the development of incomplete mouthparts. The mating of mayflies occurs at dusk, at which time the males congregate in huge swarms, which attract females for mating. After mating the females deposit their eggs on the lake surface and die. The life span of the adult mayfly is variable depending on temperature and humidity, but is approximately 24 hours. Data from light trap catches has determined that inland migration of mayflies is usually less than two miles.
DISTRIBUTION
The name mayfly does not correlate with Hexagenia's emergence pattern in Lake Erie. The major emergence of mayflies in Lake Erie starts in mid-June and early July and continues at lesser rates throughout the summer months. Mayflies began to repopulate western Lake Erie in the early 1990's. Densities of the nymph stage have increased dramatically since 1995 in the western basin, with densities in 1995 averaging 34 per square meter, increasing to 102 per square meter in 1996 and to 404 per square meter in 1997. The average densities of nymphs in the western basin in the 1940's and early 1950's ranged from 300 to 500 per square meter.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Biological Resources Division of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) sampled several sites in Presque Isle Bay and the nearby lake sediments in 1997. Although no nymphs were collected during the sampling, adult mayflies were collected at nearby shoreline locations.
Ed Masteller, Emeritus Professor of Biology at Penn State Erie, has been collecting adults in the Erie area at Dobbins Landing, near the entrance to Presque Isle, and near the borough of North East, Pennsylvania. According to Masteller, adult mayflies started appearing in significant numbers in 1996 with the highest densities of collections averaging 30 per square meter in 1997. Will Pennsylvania experience the hordes of mayfly swarms that western basin communities have experienced? The answer to that question is uncertain at this time but improvements in the quality of lake sediment appears to be influencing their expanded range into the central and eastern basins.
Dave Adams is an author and professional charter captain who operates D & D Charters on the Pennsylvania waters of Lake Erie.
|
|
